A secretive, breeding female Water Vole eating Celandine flowers!

It takes the good luck of being in the right place at the right time, and patience, to film Water Voles, due to their often being alert, and ready to run or dive into the water, following any sounds or movement that could be an indication of an approaching predator! Especially a Water Vole who is just about to breed: as my next clip reveals her collecting dry stems to make a nest in her burrow. I am partially hidden by a shrub (you can see the green hue of them as they wave about, at times) an am wearing subtle green coloured clothes to blend into the environment. Whilst hidden, she is eating tender bramble leaves, but then breaks cover to feed on the protein rich Celandine flowers. It was at this point, I knew that she was a breeding female! The next clip reveals the she is heavily pregnant by her expanded waistline, as she dives carefully into the water. So she had not given birth yet!