|
BOURNEMOUTH NATURAL SCIENCE SOCIETY | ||
| 39 Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH1 3NS, UK. Registered Charity No. 219585 |
Number of Members: 6
Leader: Jonathan McGowan
Map reference:
ST 012 002
Fish Life in the River Allen
Mean temperature 19C, light wind, sun and cloud.
Six members gathered with the leader in the Allendale car park just after a torrential rain storm, thankfully the last of the day. We headed along the path by the side of the River Allen and in very short order saw our first fish, brown trout and bream. Jonathan asked whether we could hear the kingfisher (I couldn't) and sure enough a few seconds later an iridescent blue flash shot along the river.
During the very pleasant walk to Walford Mill we saw many species of fish (see list below). At one stage Jonathan waded in the river searching for native crayfish, Austropotamobius pallipes, but all that was found was the remains of a claw. While searching a bone was found some 20cm long, robust probably a limb bone its age and species are to be determined. Jonathan also showed some freshwater shrimps and a non-native introduced pond snail. A little further on a common eel was seen foraging in the bottom sediment.
A visit was paid to Walford Mill to see the stream under the mill where otters play at night and to watch the CCTV images of the otters. While walking in the gardens by the river a kingfisher was again heard together with sounds of its young, it kept flying in and out of the tree in an obviously protective way. We then retraced our steps to the car park.
Fish species seen:
| Leuciscus cephalus | Chubb |
| Rutilus rutilus | Roach |
| Salmo trutta | Brown Trout |
| Anguilla anguilla | European Eel |
| Cottus gobio | Bullhead |
| Phoxinus phoxinus | Minnow |
| Leuciscus leuciscus | Dace |
| Thymallus thymallus | Grayling |
| Gobio gobio | Gudgeon |
| Abramis brama | Bream |
Bird species seen:
| Ardea cinerea | Grey Heron |
| Egretta garzetta | Little egret |
| Alcedo atthis | Kingfisher |
The next location was Eye Meadow by the River Stour at Cowgrove. Lunch was eaten by a small backwater watching hordes of minnows in the shallows: they, of course, shared lunch. We walked to a bridge over the Stour but the breeze was disturbing the surface making it difficult to see much although Jonathan pointed out a series of bubbles as indicators of an eel feeding in the sediment.
Walking along the river bank we concentrated on the insect life which was prolific and varied particularly on the heads of the hogweed (see list below). A small bridge over a tributary had numbers of Lacewings, small wasps and in the shallow clear water Minnows and juvenile Chubb could be seen as well as dragonfly larvae. While we watched a Sedge Warbler could be heard giving an alarm call and was briefly seen among the sedge. Continuing until we reached the path to the road we retraced our steps. At one point Jonathan captured a large dragonfly and held it so that we could examine its beauty, when let go it remained on his hand until a camera was reached for whereupon it fled. A Banded Damselfly was given the same treatment and again was remarkably docile while being studied. We returned to the car park still studying the insects and thanked the leader for a most instructive and enjoyable day.
Insect and other species seen:
| Bees/Wasps | |
| Chrysis ignita | Ruby tailed wasp |
| Ceropales maculata | Spider hunting wasp |
| Lissonata setosa | (ichneumon) |
| Andrena marginata | |
| Colletes succintus | |
| Andrena hattonfiana | |
| Cerceris arenaria | Weevil wasp |
| Odonata | |
| Platycnemisis penippes | White legged damselfly |
| Ischnura elegans Var. violacea | |
| Challagma cyathigerum | Common blue damselfly |
| Agrion splendens | Banded Agrion |
| Aeshna grandis | |
| Libellula depressa | |
| Butterflies | |
| Maniola jurtina | Meadow Brown |
| Ochlodes venata | Large skipper |
| Thymelicus sylvestris | Small skipper |
| Pieris brassicae | Large white |
| Vanessa atalanta | Red admiral |
| Polygonia c-album | Comma |
| Beetles Longhome | |
| Strangaka maculata | |
| Leptura rubra ? | (Very scarce) |
| Cantharis livida | Common soldier |
| Strangalia melanura | |
| Bugs | |
| Lygocoris pabulinus | Common green capsid |
| Polymerus unifasciatus | |
| Phytocorus filiae | |
| Polychonabis limbatus | Marsh damsel bug |
| Hydrometra stanorum | Water measurer |
| Polomena prasina | Green shield bug |
| Mollusca | |
| Capea hortensis | White lipped snail |
| Yellow coloured lip x1 | |
| Capaea nemoralis | Brown lipped snail x4 |
| Monacha cantliana | Kentish snail |
| Birds | |
| Acrocephalus scirpaceus | Reed wabler |
| Acrocephalus schoenobaenus | Sedge wabler |
Ray Chapman 09/07/07