Country diary: Fishbourne Reedbeds, West Sussex: The water vole's grand designs

Fishbourne Reedbeds, West Sussex: A neat pile of chopped vegetation suggests that the reed buntings aren't the only creatures preparing to winter hereAt the head of the Fishbourne Channel there is a hinterland of reedbeds and briny watercourses. There is no sea wall here, just a gradual merging of elements as land meets sea. Few plants can survive the daily exposure to salt water that occurs when the tide is in, so the reedbeds are dominated by dense stands of common reed that form an impenetrable two-metre high grey-green wall on either side of the boardwalk.In the spring, the reedbeds reverberated with a cacophony of bird song and the begging calls of hungry chicks. Now they are eerily quiet, just the whisper of the breeze blowing through the reeds and the distant screech of gulls. Many of the breeding birds have migrated but reed buntings are resident all year round and I eventually catch a glimpse of a male's jet-black head, with its white moustache and collar, as it clings to a tasselled flower spike. Continue reading...