During Community Action Week, 23 volunteers from the Guildford community came together at Riverside Nature Reserve to take part in Harvest Mouse nest surveys. This national citizen science programme, run by The Mammal Society, aims to identify Harvest Mouse presence through surveying for the presence of nests from the previous breeding season (April-October).

The survey involves parting vegetation to look for suspended tennis-ball sized nests, which are distinctively woven and attached to the vegetation in the region of 30cm above the ground. 

Riverside, a Guildford Borough Council owned site designated as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) and Site of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCI), hosts a myriad of complex vegetation suitable for weaving these nests, making it the perfect training site for budding citizen scientists.

Over the course of just two hours, volunteers from Zero Carbon Guildford, Swingbridge, The Mount Volunteers, Guildford Borough Council and Surrey Wildlife Trust identified 53 nests and collected vital data on nest location, height, width and height above ground.

These records are vital in helpingus understand the distribution of this elusive and under-recorded small mammal, which is in decline due to habitat loss and changes in agricultural practices and therefore listed as a Biodiversity Action Plan species.

Despite this, we were thrilled with the number of nest records, indicating healthy populations at this well-managed site. We were even treated to several glimpses of these 7cm, 8-gramme golden wonders scurrying through the undergrowth and using their prehensile tails for balance. Seeing Harvest Mice up close definitely raised volunteer spirits in the soggy weather!

If you do find any records of Harvest Mouse nests when out and about then please do not disturb them.  However, do take a photo if possible and send your records, specifying the location as precisely as you can to ourSurrey Biodiversity Information Centre by emailing surreybic@surreywt.org.uk