WatervoleCam

This was a chance observation on a camera set to look for otters.  I noticed a small animal scurry across the bottom of the picture for a brief moment.  It is obviously a vole but is a bit out of focus and the freeze frame is blurred.  It is too close to the camera so it is not easy to judge its size.  On the other hand it is in water, and from where it went it would have to be a confident swimmer as it is some distance before it could get out again.  The vole wasn't in view at the start so I am not sure what triggered the camera (there is the intriguing possibility that it was following another one which moved out of view in the time it took for the camera to start recording).

On this freeze frame we can see its tail but it is blurred and curving away from the camera so it is hard to judge the length.

I was hoping this was a water vole so I sent the video to the Natural History Society of Northumbria who sent it on to Kirsty Pollard of the NE Water Vole Project based at Durham Wildlife Trust.  And Kirsty has confirmed it is a water vole. This is only the second sighting of a water vole in Gosforth Nature Reserve in recent years.

Because the video is so short I have added two slow motion replays so it is easier to see the vole.

My friend and fellow naturalist and photographer Chris Castling took a photo of a swimming water vole in Gosforth Nature Reserve last year, the first observation in the reserve for many years. You can see his photo here.  After Chris saw his water vole I tried for nine days and nights to catch one on a trail camera without success, so this latest finding was a real bonus.

This map, from the National Water Vole Database and Mapping Project shows the distribution of signs of water vole presence in 2006 - 2015.  The location of Gosforth Nature Reserve is shown by the red arrow and, although water voles were very rare in Northumberland, signs (green dots) were detected nearby on The Ouseburn, so it isn't all that surprising that they should still be around, even if rarely seen.

The water vole is Arvicola amphibius, sometimes also Arvicola terrestris.  Water voles were common when I was young but the population crashed to only 5% of its former level, mainly because of habitat loss and predation by American mink (Neovison vison), a non-native invasive species.  There was a 30% loss in 2006-2015 so the problem is continuing.  Protecting water voles involves improving habitat, controlling mink and, occasionally, reintroduction.  There is a reintroduction programme, Restoring Ratty, in Kielder Water and Forest Park (blue arrow on the map above) which you can read about here.  It is a five year project with 1500 voles released so far.  The hope is that they will spread down the North Tyne and link up with a population in South Northumberland.