Water Voles are great photographic subjects. Earlier this week I caught up with an established colony in Sussex to see how they were getting on.
(Image: Canon EOS 1DX, EF500mm f/4L IS II, 1/160 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 3200, tripod with Uniqball head)
Water Voles have been in rapid decline in the UK in the past decades. This seems to be a result of habitat loss, and the introduction of American Mink to the ecosystem. The invasive Mink are exceptionally adept at catching voles and have become a real problem, so it's nice to find a colony of Voles that's thriving. I've been visiting one such colony living in a stream in Sussex for about a year now and earlier this week I spent a few hours photographing there. The colony in question is very numerous and it usually only takes a few minutes to find a voles on the bank, or feeding on watercress in the stream. (Thanks to George McCarthy for introducing me to the site)
(Images: Left - Canon EOS 1DX, EF500mm f/4L IS II, 1/125 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 3200, tripod; Right - Canon EOS 1DX, EF500mm f/4L IS II, 1/400 sec @ f/5, ISO 3200)