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Connecting with Nature: My experience volunteering for water voles
Annabelle Brittle shares the joy of volunteering for a worthwhile cause; protecting and diversifying water vole habitats with a group of like-minded people in the autumn sunshine.
What have water voles got to do with climate change?
I have become a detective; an investigator seeking clues; peering into burrows and carefully searching through grass and mud for one of the UK’s most elusive creatures, the water vole.
Water vole
The water vole is under serious threat from habitat loss and predation by the American mink. Found along our waterways, it is similar-looking to the brown rat, but with a blunt nose, small ears…
A water vole? Really?
As part of 30 Days Wild my grandson Jacob and I have decided we will both do something each day and Jacob writes it on his poster calendar each night before bed.
Rafts for Ratty: new floating islands help to monitor water voles
Lancashire Wildlife Trust staff and volunteers at Lunt Meadows Nature Reserve and Flood Storage Reservoir in Sefton have built nineteen small rafts to help keep an eye on one of the site’s more…
Water spider
There are several species of spider that live in our wetlands, but the water spider is the only one that spends its life under the water. In its pond habitats, it looks silvery because of the air…
Water scorpion
The water scorpion is not a true scorpion, but it certainly looks like one! An underwater predator, it uses its front pincer-like legs to catch its prey. Its tail actually acts as a kind of '…
Water shrew
The large, dark grey water shrew lives mostly in wetland habitats. It's a good swimmer that hunts for aquatic insects and burrows into the banks.
Water figwort
Water figwort is a tall plant of riverbanks, pond margins, damp meadows and wet woodlands. Its maroon flowers are pollinated by the Common wasp.
Water dock
As its name suggests, Water dock likes damp places, such as the egdes of canals, ponds and rivers. It is a tall plant with large, greenish flower spikes.
Water avens
Look for Water avens in damp habitats, such as riversides, wet woodlands and wet meadows. It has nodding, purple-and-orange flowers that hang on delicate, purple stems.