This little bank vole lives in a dry stone wall near Agden Reservoir on the outskirts of Sheffield. Liz and I have seen it a few times whilst we've been out walking. It regularly pops out of a hole in the wall to pick up bits of birdseed.
Yesterday I decided to have a go at photographing the vole. I took a few shots but they were a bit distant. I returned to the site today and had another go. I used a close-focussing 50mm macro lens, with the camera mounted on a tripod.
At first the vole was extremely sensitive to the sound of the camera. As soon as I clicked the shutter it darted back into the wall. I got an awful lot of blurred pictures of its furry backside disappearing down the hole!
In attempt to freeze vole in its tracks, I cranked the shutter speed up to 1/500 second. As the scene was rather dimly lit, I had to set the ISO rating to 800 (about high as you can go with the Olympus E500 before the pictures start to look unacceptably grainy).
After a while, the vole seemed to become a bit more relaxed about the noise of the camera. I managed to get several fairly good shots of it posing in the entrance to its hole.
This one's worthy of Cute Overload.
Not to bring anyone down, but I'm curious what predators there are in the area?
Posted by: Xris | Monday, 26 February 2007 at 07:49 PM
Wow Steve, that is a beauty of a shot
Posted by: jamsodonnell | Monday, 26 February 2007 at 08:40 PM
Xris: I've seen stoats hunting in and out of dry stone walls - I'm sure they'd make short work of an unwary vole.
jams: Who's Steve? ;-)
Posted by: Roger B. | Monday, 26 February 2007 at 08:50 PM
That is ridiculously cute! Well done!
Posted by: Pete M | Tuesday, 27 February 2007 at 06:02 PM
What a wonderful shot! I am so envious - I do way better with photographing trees than animals (trees can't scamper, fly, or slither away!).
Posted by: JLB | Thursday, 01 March 2007 at 03:14 PM
Your pictures and site are really great! I take a lot of wildlife/outdoor photos too, but still have a lot to learn. Your composition is wonderful. I love the little vole...
Posted by: Beau | Saturday, 03 March 2007 at 04:59 PM
This little guy is sooooo cute! I love all your photos!
Posted by: Tammy | Tuesday, 08 May 2007 at 04:01 PM