Last summer, our wonderful local expert Anna Rowlands and her colleagues in the ecology team at Atkins Ltd.  keenly volunteered to lead an intrepid group of NRNers on a water vole survey of the Limb Brook, which flows from South Leigh to Eynsham.  

This pioneering survey discovered Long Mead to be home to a healthy population of water vole, one of our first local records of water vole in this area in decades. This year, Anna and her colleagues are returning with greater forces to go further afield, and will be volunteering her time alongside Lucy Stoddart, who is the Mammal Project Field Officer for Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust, as well as a local resident of Eynsham.

If you are keen to become part of the NRN water vole survey group that will contribute to the annual National Water Vole Monitoring Programme, are willing to get your boots a little wet and muddy, and won"t shy away from exploring along bankside vegetation, then come and join us on Saturday 20th May.  Here we will share with you an introduction to all things Water Vole as well as training on how to survey and fill in standard monitoring forms.

We are aiming to survey once, around the same time each year.   For the survey we advise you to come prepared wearing suitable clothing (long sleeves, trousers, sturdy boots or wellies and gardening gloves to protect your hands from brambles and nettles).  Expect to experience a varied bankside gradient, so a ranging (walking) pole or similar might come in handy.  

Please make sure that you sign up on the website as we really need to keep track of numbers.