Bank Vole

Bank Vole

When I arrived at the County Park this morning I made my way up the muddy paths until I came up near the Old Brick Kiln in the top corner of Wildflower Meadow. I found an area that looked interesting and a great place to stop for a welcoming drink of water, when I noticed something very small dart out from under a log and scurry into the thicket of vegetation. It startled me at first, then I realised I could have a great opportunity to capture something special. I waited very quietly standing over the log to see if anything moved. With camera in hand I stood for a while, very still. I heard the rustling of leaves in the far corner and then again dart behind a second log a few feet away. I remember thinking that this is a small mammal that doesn’t want to be seen for very long and is going to take some time to truly feel comfortable with showing itself to me. So, I slowly took off my backpack and placed it down and found a stable log to gently sit down with as little noise as I could.  

I’m still new to photography and getting used to which settings to use is still a challenge for me. Practice certainly is key here. Adapting to different surroundings, lighting and subject all combined is hard and finding the right settings becomes frustrating especially when an opportunity presents itself in front of you so quickly.  But luckily, I had pre-set my 'i' menu for quick access settings which helped in this situation. I could quickly move through them for new ones if I found they weren’t working for me.

After sitting for quite some time the mammal started moving more frequently through the leaves and branches in front of me, still very quickly but enough little bursts that I could more or less start to see a path that he was using. At one point he surprisingly popped his head up out from under the log I was sitting on right next to my foot. Before I could move the camera to capture him, he was gone. At this point, after seeing him more clearly for the first time, I identified him as what I thought was a field mouse. Capturing a still image of him, for me, was going to be very difficult, so I decided to turn my attention to a video image of him instead.

Every time I heard him, and if I kept very still, I manged to point the camera along the pathway he was using and press record. As the lighting was very poor, and he was very small, I couldn’t quite see, on viewing the playback, if I had managed to capture him or not, and after what seemed like forever, I decided to hope and pray I had something and to move on with my quest for close-up photographs.

Even though I spent most of my time waiting patiently for this little creature to show himself, I still managed to shoot other animals in the area, mostly birds. My two favourites in fact, the Robin and the Long-Tailed tit, which made it worthwhile sitting in silence.

It wasn’t long after this that the drizzle came in and I made the decision to call it a day. On the way back to my car, I did however venture one last time back to the Water Meadows for one more look for the deer from earlier in the day, but to no avail. I did manage to capture a few last shots of close-ups before leaving for the day.

Once home, I reviewed all my footage from the day, nearly 2,000 photos! This does happen when shooting on continuous and be prepared for lots of duplicate frames. For me though this is when I find the most interesting photos. A slight movement can either draw the subject closer into focus or capture the scene in a slightly different lighting. I have ended up with great shots this way and have taken some amazing photos…..well amazing for me anyway.

On closer inspection of my video, I did manage to capture the little mouse, or what I thought it was. It turned out though, on closer inspection and the wonderful help of the internet, to be a small Bank Vole instead. I had to slow down the video slightly to be able to see him more clearly as he was very quick indeed, but very pleased that I had caught a little glimpse of him and his surroundings.

I hope you enjoyed the tale for today. Please join me again soon next time on another adventure.

Bank Vole