Rooksbury has been fairly quiet over the past few weeks, although with the recent warmer weather lets hope that there will be a burst of activity in the forth coming weeks. The number of water vole droppings along the river bank between the two bridges either side of the car park has increased dramatically and it is just a matter of time to see how many water voles are present along this short stretch. There is talk of a mink roaming near the mill site and this maybe the reason that I have seen no droppings near the bridge or along the banks there. TVBC will, I understand, be setting the mink rafts with traps in the near future and we can be free of at least one more of this non-native species.
Unfortunately someone has broken and removed the sluice gate at the end of the larger lake at Rooksbury causing the water level in the lake to drop by nearly a meter. Hopefully the sudden force of water let go by the removal will not have washed away or damaged too much habitat down stream. It may also mean that any spawned eggs in the lake near to the sluice will have been washed away and others in now shallow water may have been damaged. Only the next few months will reveal what damage has been done.
Last Sunday, 22 Feb, I spent a very enjoyable day carrying out habitat management along the banks of the River Anton Lakes. The aim of the day, organised by the TVBC and HWT, was to cut back and fell some of the trees which over hang the river letting more light fall on the banks. This will allow the natural growth of bank side vegetation which in turn will provide food and shelter for all sorts of insects and mammals including hopefully the water vole. After a quick refresher on how to cut down trees safely we were let loose along the bank. It was amazing what a difference only removing a few branches made, and by lunch time one part of the bank near the source of the river was bathed in sun light. We laid some cut branches along the side of the river channel to encourage silt build up and vegetation growth. Much of the river channel is too wide, so by doing this we are narrowing the channel which improves the transport of silt, which in turn creates clearer water. With the rest of the wood, we created habitat piles on the banks, creating valuable habitats for small mammals, and hopefully otters! The removal of several fallen branches from the centre of the river on Sunday soon had the water running freely and revealing the white chalk bed once more.
By the end of the day work had been carried out on both river banks covering a distance of a few hundred yards and the increase in light over the banks was significantly higher.
Unfortunately someone has broken and removed the sluice gate at the end of the larger lake at Rooksbury causing the water level in the lake to drop by nearly a meter. Hopefully the sudden force of water let go by the removal will not have washed away or damaged too much habitat down stream. It may also mean that any spawned eggs in the lake near to the sluice will have been washed away and others in now shallow water may have been damaged. Only the next few months will reveal what damage has been done.
Last Sunday, 22 Feb, I spent a very enjoyable day carrying out habitat management along the banks of the River Anton Lakes. The aim of the day, organised by the TVBC and HWT, was to cut back and fell some of the trees which over hang the river letting more light fall on the banks. This will allow the natural growth of bank side vegetation which in turn will provide food and shelter for all sorts of insects and mammals including hopefully the water vole. After a quick refresher on how to cut down trees safely we were let loose along the bank. It was amazing what a difference only removing a few branches made, and by lunch time one part of the bank near the source of the river was bathed in sun light. We laid some cut branches along the side of the river channel to encourage silt build up and vegetation growth. Much of the river channel is too wide, so by doing this we are narrowing the channel which improves the transport of silt, which in turn creates clearer water. With the rest of the wood, we created habitat piles on the banks, creating valuable habitats for small mammals, and hopefully otters! The removal of several fallen branches from the centre of the river on Sunday soon had the water running freely and revealing the white chalk bed once more.
By the end of the day work had been carried out on both river banks covering a distance of a few hundred yards and the increase in light over the banks was significantly higher.
James Cooke
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment