The number of water voles at Rooksbury is still increasing and they can be found in nearly every stretch of the river within the reserve. The area to the north of Mills Lake certainly has a couple of water voles and I’ve watched them on several occasions. It’s a very positive sign that they are spreading further away from the historical areas nearer to Barlows Lake. Steve and I surveyed that stretch of river from the old mill buildings up to the start of the houses and noted plenty of feeding stations, some foot prints plus a burrow or two.
The vegetation is still growing which is hampering our surveys at the moment by covering not only the banks but also a lot of the river as well. The water voles may be hidden a good deal of the time but they don’t always go unnoticed and we spotted several areas where the reeds or other undergrowth were shaking madly as the water voles settled down to a meal. We have three more surveys to complete at Rooksbury before we start surveying the stretch of River next to ASDAs.
My highlight of June was seeing my first wild otter, and to see it at Rooksbury made it doubly special. I had been at Rooksbury for a couple of hours and had spotted several water voles and was heading back to the car park. I had a final look in the ponds and noticed a large object flow down the inlet stream into the first pond. Not knowing what it was I wandered over but apart from the remaining ripples the pond was empty. Then a series of air bubbles appeared strung across the pond. These air bubbles are a sure sign that an otter is swimming under water and sure enough he surfaced briefly before diving under the water and vanishing. It was great to see this elusive animal and to see it in broad daylight was amazing and so un-expected.
Steve saw a Kingfisher on Tuesday evening near the bridge by the A303. This is the first time I’ve heard that these birds are back at Rooksbury since they disappeared in early Spring.
I saw this little chap on the “dead” section of the river by the Mill. But it’s not always peaceful and quiet at Rooksbury. On one of my visits I had a shock when I saw these two Swans fighting. I think a lone male must have tried his luck with the female from a pair and with the signets looking on the pair attacked the intruding male. The noise was bad enough but the ferocity of the attack was horrendous. At one point the female sat on the lone males back while her partner forced its head under the water. The fight lasted over 20 minutes before the lone male was eventually able to make his escape. All the swans seemed to come out of the encounter un-scathed and the peace of Rooksbury was once again reinstated.

James Cooke