Wildlife along the Oxford Canal

Wildlife on the Oxford Canal. © Stewart Downs

The canal environment has become a thriving natural habitat for many species of plants and an abundance of wildlife. Today, canals are especially important for wildlife conservation as many other freshwater habitats come under threat.

The Oxford Canal, with its rural characteristics, is no exception. On the bank you may see rabbits, foxes and voles, whilst mallards, swans, moorhens and coots are regular visitors on the water. On warm summer evenings swallows and swifts dive for insects, and the banks can be full of wildflowers filling the air with scent and colour. Herons and kingfishers can also be seen on quieter stretches.

The canal in Oxford itself is the site of an important colony of water voles. Certain stretches of towpath have been designated as 'conservation lengths', where boats cannot moor, and where specially designed bank protection is actually encouraging these endangered animals to colonise the canal.

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