Bank Vole - Clethrionomys glareolus - a photo on Flickriver

Bank Vole - Clethrionomys glareolus

            A Bank Vole, Clethrionomys glareolus (or Myodes glareolus), sitting on a mossy tree stump in undergrowth beside a path through the edge of woodland.  I've known about Bank Voles for a long time and regularly see what are probably their holes, but this is the first time I've seen more than an indistinct movement.  This beautiful creature sat very still and watched me before darting down out of sight.

In Winchester we used to be lucky enough to see Water Voles regularly. Sadly, it's a rare occurence now.  I believe the otters used to do a better job of keeping the Itchen free of mink.  Now there are more mink sightings and far fewer voles. Bank Voles, on the other hand, are really common but rarely seen, if my many hours lurking in wild places are anything to go by.  I've read that they form a major part of the diet of our owls and I think I've seen plenty of vole nest holes.  Anyway, this little creature was very reminiscent of a Water Vole with a similar teddy-bearish face and a short tale, but smaller and nowhere near a river.  It's pale underside was also distinctive.  I was very glad to have had this encounter, and even photos to prove it!

I've included this photo, even though the focus isn't as good, as it shows the tip of its tale.

West Wood, Winchester, Hampshire, UK, 7th May 2024.

OS Grid Ref: SU 422 293  recorded

Some rights reserved

Taken in: UK / England / Winchester District / Sparsholt (show map)

Taken on: May 7, 2024

Tags:

mammal

Rodentia

Cricetidae

Arvicolinae

Clethrionomyini

Clethrionomys glareolus

Bank Vole

rodent

brown

grey

short tail

cute

Hampshire

Winchester

West Wood

chalk woodland

moss

crop

macro

animal

outdoors

nature

British wildlife

Dluogs

taxonomy:binomial=Clethrionomys glareolus

taxonomy:common=Bank Vole

geo:county=Hampshire

geo:country=England

geo:region=Europe

geo:OSGridRef=SU422293

recorded

geotagged

geo:lat=51.06204

geo:lon=-1.3988 « less

Sets appears in: • Vertebrates • Winchester Woodland

Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ70, f/5.6, 1/60 sec, 38.4mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Panasonic DMC-TZ70
Aperture:	f/5.6
Exposure Time:	0.017 sec (1/60)
Focal Length:	38.4mm
ISO:	400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	High gain up
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.0 (Windows)
Show full info

Stats: 153 views

close tools panel

Badge creator

Use Flickriver Badge Creator to create a badge linking to your photos, your group or any other Flickriver view.

You can place your badge on your Flickr profile, Blog or Website.

Add to your iGoogle or Netvibes page

Flickriver widget for iGoogle or Netvibes can display almost any Flickriver view - most interesting today, by user, by group, by tag etc. Once added to your personalized homepage, just edit widget settings to select your desired view.

Clickr on one of the buttons below to install:

Embed on your Web site

To embed this view, Copy and Paste the following HTML code:

Black background (preview):

White background (preview):

Firefox and Chrome addons

Adds a 'Flickriver' button to your browser. While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on this button to open the same view on Flickriver.

Install in Firefox
Install in Chrome

Search plugin

Add 'Search on Flickriver' to your browser's search box. Works with Firefox and Internet Explorer. Install search plugin

"View on Flickriver" Greasemonkey script

A Greasemonkey script that adds Flickriver links to various Flickr photo pages - user photos, favorites, pools etc, allowing to quickly open the corresponding Flickriver view.

Also, allows quickly viewing any Flickr photo on black background in large size.

Install "View on Flickriver" script

Bookmarklet

While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on the bookmarklet to open the same view on Flickriver.

To install: drag and drop the following link to your Bookmarks toolbar.
IE users - add the link to your Favorites under the Links folder