Friday 21 August 2015

River sampling - August 2015



We had a fine, dry and warm evening on 12th August for our sampling session near the cricket nets. The river was very low and we used the usual 3 kick-shuffles of one minute each in three slightly different places, all under trees which are increasingly shading the river.
(1. Gravel/rocky bottom in main flow; 2. Some Weed (water crowfoot) with rocky gravel bottom; 3. Deeper water, rocky bottom)

We submitted the following report on the Riverfly monitored species:

Organisation: Abington Naturewatch
Site name: Cricket Pitch Reach, Abington, Cambridge
River: Granta
Grid ref: TL534490
Monitoring Group Coordinator: Rob Mungovan
Date: 12 August 2015, 6.30pm
Recorded by: Peter Brunning

Cased caddisfly: Nil
Caseless caddisfly: B, ca 10
Mayfly (Ephemeridae):  Nil
Blue-winged olive (Ephemeridae): Nil
Flat bodied up-wings (Heptageniidae): Nil
Olives (Baetidae): C, ca 100
Stoneflies: Nil
Gammarus (Freshwater shrimp): B, ca 20

[A:1-9; B:10-99; C:100-999;D:>1000]

A few photos were taken: 

Olive
Caddis

Caddis

Freshwater Shrimp (Gammarus)

In addition to the monitored species, we caught 3 small signal crayfish - 7cm, 5cm, 2cm

Signal Crayfish

No comments:

The Aims of Abington Naturewatch

At their meeting on 9 April 2005 the members approved this revised version of the aims of Abington Naturewatch:

  • To monitor and record the wildlife (fauna & flora) within the borders of the Abingtons;
  • To encourage protection of our wildlife, maintain its quality and foster its diversity;
  • To promote awareness of the richness, potential and problems of the natural environment of the Abingtons;
  • To cooperate in improving access to the local natural environment for the benefit of all Abington villagers.

Pat Daunt, Founder

The organisation is informal and communication is by email if possible; members are notified of events from time to time. Contact details are maintained by a small "project team". There is currently no membership fee as costs are covered by voluntary contributions at events.

Members are encouraged to report notable sightings of flora and fauna within the Abingtons to the appropriate sector coordinator and an illustrated record is published annually.

A map of the area covered, with some features noted, is available here: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=213774935674882866424.00000111dca2be9f06ab8&z=13>

For more information or to join, please contact David Farrant on (01223) 892871.

Contributions to our records should be sent to sector contacts or either of the above. Photographs may also be submitted to Andy Merryweather (amerryweather61@gmail.com)