Wednesday 27 August 2014

A Close Encounter with Voles


I often see voles sneaking about in my garden, but like most people I rarely get to see them really close up.  Some time ago I did manage to grab some shots of one feeding and identified it as a Bank Vole (Clethrionomys glareolus).



Bank Vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) feeding on Honeysuckle Berries.   This vole was far too timid to photograph close up and I had to use a 400mm lens.

Then the other day I spotted five young voles feeding in the garden. I originally thought they were bank voles as well, but after looking closely at the pics and video I have come to the conclusion they are actually young Field Voles (Microtus agrestis) as they are much lighter in colour and have very short tails.

 
At first they were not too sure if I could be trusted and would hide under the path, or disappear down their hole. 
 

After a few minutes they would come back out if I stayed still. 

 

  Eventually they allowed me so close I could photograph them with a 100mm macro lens



After a while they would even take grass shoots from my hand.


We must be doing something right with our garden.
 
Text/images copyright David Forster www.bluestoneimages.com
 


No comments:

Post a Comment