It's simple really - you walk along the waterways of the Great Fen, in search of Ratty's favourite picnic spots! Ratty, the water vole, tends to leave evidence of his snacks behind, with piles of feeding remains at his favourite feeding stations. Discover the locations of the stations and you know where he's been!

Water voles are mainly vegetarian. To obtain their snacks, they cut reed stems and those of other plants off at an angle of 45°. They picnic close to the water's edge, where taller vegetation provides cover from predators; this is where you find the piles of cut plant stems. There may also be evidence of runways nearby, through the vegetation, as well as droppings and burrows.

Water voles are highly protected in the UK. They do not hibernate, so can be active at any time of year, and so it is important to consider this where you are near the water. We regularly survey for them in the Great Fen, to record their distribution and levels of activity, as part of the ongoing monitoring programme. We also survey for them as part of our plans for restoration work, gathering data before during and after such conservation activities.

Volunteers help with many surveys at the Great Fen, and last month I fed back to many of them on the results of their recent fieldwork at our 'volunteer' Conservation Conference. It was great to catch up with so many familiar faces, from the many years I have been involved on working with volunteers at the Wildlife Trust. At the conference, we acknowledged their support of the Wildlife Trust, at the Great Fen and elsewhere in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.

The conference also provided a chance to learn about the latest efforts to protect water voles in our region, and learn more about the return of the beaver to Northamptonshire, after an absence of 400 years!

Last year, at the Great Fen, volunteers contributed nearly 700 hours of survey time to the Peatland Progress sites alone, such as Speechly's Farm. Plans for monitoring and restoration at such sites were revealed at the conference, as well as the wildlife highlights of 2024! So much has happened at the Great Fen, with more to come.

A busy day at the conference was spent speaking with volunteers and staff while on the Great Fen stand, and also giving a presentation, was made all the easier with the help of other volunteers. They included Henry Day, fellow naturalist, who was able to explain more about water vole surveys, using his own fieldwork experience at the Great Fen.

Monitoring of the water voles, and other semi-aquatic mammals, involves using floats and rafts, floating platforms of various types, which the animals can use to feed on and deposit their droppings.

Water vole floats vary in size and material (e.g. rectangle 20x40cm rectangle or 30cm diameter slice of a tree trunk). They are installed on the edge of the water, in ditches for example, tied to the bank and inspected for signs of water voles; droppings and feeding remains for example.

These and also direct searching for such signs, form the two main methods of surveys we will be doing at the Great Fen this year this spring and late summer.

Use of camera traps/trail cameras and other technology, provide yet more information, and also record many other species as well; harvest mice, water shrews, water rails, and common toads are just some of the wildlife we have recorded at the Great Fen. Trail cameras, along with the use of floats and rafts, have been topics that Trust staff from the Great Fen and Nene Valley Living Landscapes have been liaising over recently.

Some of the results are expected, some are an unexpected delight!

No previous experience is required, just bring your enthusiasm, a willingness to learn, an ability to walk along ditches, which can include steep sides and dense vegetation.

You will learn more about the Great Fen and you will learn more about the life of the water vole, and any unexpected wildlife encounters are an added bonus.

If you would like to help survey for water voles in the Great Fen this year, in May and August, contact us to join the team, get in touch via the contact details in the Monitoring & Research page.

If you would like a bit of training on the subject, consider the workshop on 'water voles and other riverside mammals', taking place this April. Or, if you would like to to experience a full day on a wildlife safari at the Great Fen, which will include looking for water vole signs, you might consider the Great Fen Ecotour.

Henry Stanier (Great Fen Monitoring & Research Officer)