Where two small brooks join in Attleborough is a very special place. Every day, many people pass over the footbridge oblivious to the tiny but amazing wildlife spectacle taking place beneath their feet. This location has become a hot spot for the UK’s cutest and most endangered wild animal. Water voles are regularly seen from this footbridge less than a mile from Nuneaton town centre. With a little patience and by staying quiet, you can see them swim and feed only metres away from you. There’s no need for expensive binoculars or telescopes.
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Community Organiser, Lee Copplestone, often sets up a water vole watchpoint on the footbridge to help connect the community with nature while listening to their thoughts about wildlife.
Lee explains his thinking, “I hope that seeing endangered water voles so close to the heart of Nuneaton will help motivate the community to take action for nature in future. While you’re waiting for one to appear you can enjoy watching beautiful iridescent damselflies flitting over the water or look skywards to see buzzards soaring or maybe even glimpse an elegant red kite gliding overhead. Don’t look away for too long though - you might miss an elusive little water vole as it breaks cover for a few seconds!”
The best way to spot them is to look out for ripples in the water as they swim along the brook or cross from one side to the other. Water voles are Vegetarians so, if you see the tops of the bankside vegetation twitching, this may be a sign they are feeding at the base of the plant. If you’re very lucky you might see them sitting on the bankside nibbling on aquatic plants or scurrying between their burrows excavated in the mud.