Water Voles

WATER VOLE CRISIS – but hope for the future…..

We have always had the pleasure of seeing Water Voles in the River Ems on Brook Meadow since the conservation group was established in Year 2000.  But sightings declined dramatically from a high point in 2012 to a point where we had no Water Vole sightings at all in since 2016,

However, in 2023 they have started to reappear, albeit in singles only.

Water Vole sightings 2023

25-Aug-2023
Malcolm Phillips saw a Water Vole emerge from a hole in the bank between the two bridges   on the Lumley pool before going south under the footbridge into Peter Pond.

Malcolm also get a photo of a possible Water Vole with it back to the camera at the S-bend – looks good for a vole rather than rat.


23-Aug-2023
Malcolm Phillips got two rather fuzzy photos of what looked like a Water Vole in the main River Ems near the S-bend.  The photos were not clear, but Malcolm was near certain the animal was a Water Vole and not a rat.


TUESDAY AUGUST 1 – 2023
A Water Vole is back
 . . . in the Lumley Stream – we’ve had several sightings and good photos of a single animal. Paul Martin got some beauties today. Looks good. There must be more than one surely?

TUESDAY JULY 11 – 2023
Water Vole
Exciting news from Malcolm Phillips today. He got a couple of pictures of a Water Vole at the top of Peter Pond.

Significantly, Malcolm saw it swim under the small footbridge at the top of Peter Pond into the Lumley Pool – which is part of the Brook Meadow site!   So, this can go down as a record for Brook Meadow – the first clear sighting with photo this year. Now we need more sightings – up the Lumley Stream. Maybe Dan will catch one on his trail camera!   This vole could be the same one that David Gattrell caught on camera on Peter Pond on June 26.

21-Jun-2023
I got a WhatsApp message from Malcolm Phillips at 11.08 to say he’d just seen a Water Vole swim across the river north of the south bridge, but it went too quickly for a photo. Malcolm was still on

03-Jun-2023
Jon Keynes is 99% sure he saw a Water Vole under the river bank opposite the steps down to the river in the north-east corner.   This chap could have come through the railway tunnel.

29-May-2023
Malcolm got what looks like a Water Vole swimming across the river beneath the south bridge. I am not totally sure about the Water Vole – not easy to tell when swimming. He also got a photo of a Brown Rat which was quite different. So let’s wait for more pictures.

03-May-2023
I met Malcolm on the meadow, but I did not stay with him though I wish I had as after he left me he had a sighting of a Water Vole on the west bank of the river just north of the S-bend – opposite the steps down to Frank’s seat. How very exciting – our first sighting for several years. Malcolm tried to get a photo but the animal was too quick for him. Please will everyone keep a look out and report back any sightings. This could be the start of good times to come!


WEDNESDAY 18th May 2022
Water Vole survey
Dan forwards the report by Jane Reeve of the Water Vole survey on the River Ems on 18th May 2022.
Here’s a link to the report . . . Water vole survey at Brook Meadows 18 May 2022

Conclusion
While confirming evidence of water voles was absent at this time, at the end of the summer when water vole populations are at their highest, there may be some signs that water voles have moved in. The habitat at Brook Meadow along the banks of the River Ems is good and there would appear to be enough variety quantity of vegetation to support them. There is a monitored mink raft on site and therefore American mink, a significant predator of water voles, appear to be absent. Records of water voles through the River Ems are patchy and there are concerns about the abstraction rates and water levels through the year higher up the river catchment. This may be the reason that water voles are not present, not because anything is wrong on Brook Meadow, but because the River Ems water vole population levels are low.

Overall recommendations
There are areas where the River Ems is quite shaded by the dense foliage of the willow branches that overhang the water. Some lifting of key branches to let light in on the banks would help to improve plant diversity.

Removal of Hemlock Water Dropwort (HWD) by digging it out along the banks would help to encourage other riparian species to colonise. On the meadow areas where HWD is encroaching, cutting off the flower heads once the flowers have peaked would be advised to slow down seed production.


FRIDAY OCTOBER 22 – 2021 – Water Vole survey
This morning Sarah Hughes (West Sussex Strategic Wildlife Corridors Project Officer) carried out a Water Vole survey on Brook Meadow assisted by her entomologist friend Alison. Dan and Terry of the conservation group were also in attendance. The survey covered the southern section of the main River Ems as far as the north bridge and part of the Lumley Stream including the Lumley pool.
Sarah, Alison, Dan and Terry in the River Ems
Sarah and Alison searching for Water Vole burrows on the river bank
Group at the north bridge.
Sarah, Alison, Dan and Terry in the Lumley Stream
Sarah and Alison in the Lumley Pool.
Water Vole bottoms – Captured by the trail camera – from Dan!!

As in her previous surveys (07-Oct-2019 and 17-Jul-2019) Sarah found many signs of Water Vole activity including fresh burrows and poo. This is very optimistic news, but as before we still have had no definite sightings of Water Voles on the Brook Meadow site since 2016.
Sarah will be sending through her final report with photos. Here it is

2021 10 22 Brook Meadow WV Survey Photographic Overview S Hughes (3)

Meanwhile here is a link to Sarah’s previous survey report . . . Brook Meadow Water Vole Survey Overview FINAL S Hughes 10 2019 (1)


MONDAY OCTOBER 7 – 2019 – Water Vole survey
Report by Brian Fellows
I met up with Dan Mortimer, Terry Lay and Sarah Hughes at the tool store on the Seagull Lane patch at 9am as previously arranged for the Water Vole survey. David Minns was also present. I took a group photo.
Sarah decided to survey the north river from the north bridge to the railway tunnel. Dan and Terry joined her in the river while David and I followed on the river path.

It was really interesting to see Sarah working methodically, probing and smelling. She found several burrows, foot prints and a bit of poo. Sarah thought the area on the bend was a beautiful area for voles with copious vegetation and good banks. Dan and Terry picked up litter as they went.
Sarah’s colleague Alison joined us later, she’s an entomologist who I met on the Brook Meadow walk. All four of them ventured into the tunnel under the railway where Sarah and Alison checked out spiders.
We went over to the Lumley Stream which Sarah was most excited about, the banks being soft and ideal for Water Voles, but really needs more vegetation. Dan will try some Common Reed planting.
Sarah detected one burrow with recent markings by a reed clump which I shall need to keep an eye on.

Here is a link to Sarah’s final report from the Water Vole survey . . .
Brook Meadow Water Vole Survey Overview FINAL S Hughes 10 2019 (1)
plus some extra photos . . . Water Vole Survey 07 10 2019 PHOTOS


Water Vole survey – 17 July 2019
A Water Vole survey on the River Ems on Brook Meadow was carried out by Sarah Hughes (Community Wildlife Officer for Chichester District Council) assisted by Dan Mortimer, Terry Lay and Maurice Lillie. A good number of Water Vole signs were discovered in the area between the south bridge to the S-bend of the river, but none further north.
The signs included burrows, latrines and footprints, but no food larders.  They did not actually see any Water Voles during the survey, but the findings are very promising.   So please keep a special look out for any Water Voles, though the river and banks are not very easy to see at present from the footpaths.

Here is Sarah’s report with photos as a PDF document . . . Water Vole Survey 17 07 2019


Regeneration of the river banks – November 2018
Dan Mortimer has a plan to regenerate the river bank habitat for Water Voles and has made a start by planting Common Reed rhizomes near the north bridge. A small step in the right direction.

Volunteers strimming the river bank south of the north bridge – 15 Nov 2018

A view of the river bank from the north bridge in late November.  Great work!


Revitalising the river banks – 23 March 2018
Report by Maurice Lillie and photos by Brian Fellows
The disappearance of Water Voles from Brook Meadow over the past couple of years is very worrying.  In view of the deterioration of the river environment and its banks, the conservation group has decided to try to improve the habitat of the River Ems for Water Voles. Volunteers have been actively clearing river banks and overhanging trees during regular workdays.  Further work has been carried out by outside contractors as detailed in the following report.
In a major effort to revitalize the river banks, Brook Meadow Conservation Group engaged the services of Hampshire Chestnut, in the shape of Phil and Stu on 23 March to close cut the east bank of the River Ems, from the southern end of centre meadow to the north west corner of north meadow. Here they are at work trimming off overhanging branches.

Video clip of the work . . . https://youtu.be/XjWFSVsDit0
The hard task of raking up the arisings was done by conservation group volunteers Phil, Terry, Maurice, Jennifer, Tony, Dan and Reg.

The grass and similar vegetation was loaded onto the carry sheet and dragged the rough terrain of Central Meadow to the sacrificial area in the south east corner of North Meadow.
Phil and Stu were progressing well up the edge of North Meadow. This was a much more difficult section than earlier one, partly because the vegetation was far tougher, some of which had not been cut for many years and partly because the bank was considerably steeper. Phil also removed the ends of some of the branches of fallen tree that are due to be removed by The Environment Agency. This was to create sufficient access for the bank cutting.
After a lunch break the volunteers continued to clear up the arisings Reg cleared the remaining tree parts in Central Meadow making good use of the cart.
At 3.30 we decide to call it a day as the strenuous work was taking its toll. Phil and Stu had completed everything that was expected of them and the final push to clear away the debris will be the main task for this Sunday’s volunteer work session. A huge thank you to all the volunteers who helped to clear the debris and a similar thank you to Phil and Stu of Hampshire Chestnut Co Ltd for doing an exceptional job.
If you haven’t seen what has been achieved, already, I urge you to take a look at this first and vital stage of the revitalising of the Ems River banks to create a habitat that maybe, just maybe will lure our precious Water Voles back.

It was wonderful to be able to see so much of the river, much of which has been concealed for years.


WATER VOLE CRISIS – Hampshire Wildlife Trust report – Feb 2018
Report by Brian Fellows – 26 Feb 2018
The disappearance of Water Voles from Brook Meadow over the past two years is reflected in the findings of a new report based on data collected over the last ten years by a network of experts from the Hampshire Wildlife Trust (Feb 2018) which points to a 30% decline in Water Vole distribution across England and Wales during this time. So, the decline over the past 50 years or so appears to be continuing. Although the new survey reveals a slight increase in distribution in recent years, thanks to some successful conservation efforts by The Wildlife Trusts and others, the full data covering the whole ten years paints a bleak picture.
Habitat loss, water pollution and massive building development have led to declines in the voles since the 1960s; exacerbated by predation by North American mink. The Wildlife Trusts and other organisations across the UK have made huge conservation efforts to restoring rivers and reintroduce the species, to ensure a future for this charismatic mammal.
The Wildlife Trusts are calling for Government and Local Authorities to enable the creation of a ‘Nature Recovery Network’, as set out in the Government’s 25 Year Plan for the Environment. This should be underpinned by a new Environment Act to protect, link and create areas of habitat which help wildlife move and spread out, benefiting Water Voles and a range of other wildlife. Funding should be increased to expand Water Vole conservation efforts including for landscape-scale restoration schemes.
We are doing our bit here in Emsworth on Brook Meadow by attempting to improve the habitat of the River Ems for Water Voles. Volunteers are actively clearing river banks and overhanging trees and further work is planned from outside contractors to complete the job. See report above.   Let’s hope we can once more see these lovely creatures living with us on Brook Meadow.

For a summary of the Hampshire Wildlife Trust report go to . . .
http://www.hiwwt.org.uk/news/2018/02/26/new-report-points-30-decline-water-vole-distribution?utm_source=HIWWT+Supporters+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8faa44ef20-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_15&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1122cde8bc-8faa44ef20-5299445


WATER VOLE CRISIS ON BROOK MEADOW – 2017
Report by Brian Fellows
As shown in the following chart, Water Vole sightings on Brook Meadow have declined dramatically from a high point in 2012 to a point where we had no Water Vole sightings at all in 2017.

Our last Water Vole sighting was on 4th June 2016 in Lumley Stream.  The only sightings since then have been in Peter Pond.  So, they are still in the area, but not on Brook Meadow.
The Minx rafts installed by David Gattrell on Peter Pond have yielded nothing, so we can’t place the blame there. In his recent Water Vole survey Andy Rothwell emphasised low water levels in the river as a possible cause. The group needs to discuss this with the Environment Agency. Brown Rats are a constant threat, but they have always been here and to now seemed to have lived in harmony with the voles.
One major issue is the state of the river and river bank which is as bad as I have ever seen it in my 20 years monitoring the site. These two pictures taken from the same place illustrate the deterioration, the first in 2003 and the second last week.

The group have made a promising start in clearing overhanging branches during in the section below the north bridge, but there is a lot more to do.
My recommendation is that we should use some of the money we have in the bank to employ contractors to clear the river banks and channel regularly each winter.


WATER VOLE CRISIS – 2015-2016
Water Voles have been an important aspect of the wildlife of Brook Meadow ever since the conservation group started in year 2000. We have carefully protected their habitat and monitored their population, but as shown in the chart below, sightings of Water Voles have fallen dramatically from a high in 2012 to a low point in 2015.  The situation did not improve and even fewer sightings were had in 2016 and none at all in 2017, apart from a few over on Peter Pond.
water-vole-year-chart

A recent survey by a professional ecologist – Andy Rothwell – found no signs of Water Vole activity anywhere on the main River Ems. But there were some signs of activity on the Lumley Stream on the east side of the meadow. So we hope some voles will move across to the main river. If not then we will need to consider other options such as re-introduction.
0-999x-water-vole-bm-web-01.04.03


 

Comments are closed.