We have mentioned lampreys a couple of times in blogs and facebook postings recently, we we though some might be thinking WTF is a lamprey, so here’s a bit more information about them.
The sea and river varieties are carnivorous, having the unpleasant habit of attaching themselves to fish with their sucker mouth and boring into the body to eat the blood and flesh, ugh! On the Worth you will be pleased to know that we just have the brook lamprey which is not so disgusting as it feeds by filtering organisms out of the water, in fact it doesn’t eat at all in the adult stage. How do they live? Lampreys have two stages, a larval stage and an adult stage. After hatching the larvae drift down stream until they come to a suitable sandy/silty river bottom which they burrow into. They will remain there for five to six years feeding by filtering organisms from the water around the mouth of their burrow. They grow from 3-5mm to 12-15cm before changing into the adult form.
One of the problems lampreys face on the river (as well as the herons!) is the number of weirs. These act as a barrier to migration and may be limiting the population, mind you this also applies to other fish such as trout and grayling. River Worth Friends are keen to have some of these weirs removed if possible. Main top photographer copy write of RWF member John Tickner.
Lampreys spawning - Dr Will O'connor. Heron with lamprey - Clive Daelman. If you want to know more there is a good exploration of all three UK species here.
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![]() On Monday, as part of our survey of the river Worth and it’s tributaries, we were out kick sampling. This is a way of finding out what invertebrates (bugs) are living in a river. Most river flies live as flies for only a short period, sometimes for only a day. However they may live as bugs in the river for over a year before hatching into flies. We want to know more about bugs in the river for two reasons. Firstly a healthy bug population should lead to a healthy population of their predators like Dippers, Wagtails and Trout. Secondly the bugs are a very good indicator of the quality of the river water, they are very sensitive to pollution so lots of bugs means clean water.
The invertebrate pictured at the top of the blog is a Stonefly nymph from North Beck. We had trouble identifying it because it is a much larger species then we usually get, we have not seen one this size before (about 25mm). Sampling in this way is a great way to learn more about rivers and their ecology. It's also a return to childhood and messing about in the water! If you or your kids would like to get involved in this project please contact us. All photographs copyright of River Worth Friends member John Tickner, except the Baetis nymph. This week's blog is by written and photographed by RWF member John Tickner (all images are copyright to him).
The daffodil, today one of the most familiar of garden and roadside verge plants, was once as common in the wild. However, many that we see nowadays are either planted or escaped garden varieties. The wild daffodil has narrow, grey-green leaves and a familiar daffodil flower, but with pale yellow petals surrounding a darker yellow trumpet; this two-tone look is a starter to tell them apart from their garden relatives. The wild daffodil is also relatively short and forms clumps, carpeting the ground.
From one extreme to the other, it is only too easy to pass the tiny common wall cress without noticing. It’s the lichens and mosses that colonise a wall first, they then trap particles of dirt that allow slightly larger plants to get a foothold and move in with them.
My final offering is the ever popular primrose. A familiar spring plant of woods, hedge banks and grassy places, it is sadly less abundant than it used to be possibly as a result of over-picking. Which leads me to an appeal to please enjoy our wild flowers where they are, please leave them both for others to enjoy and to give them a chance to multiply and thrive. If you spot any unusual flowers while walking our river, or indeed see a particularly special show put on by one of the more common varieties, RWF would be pleased to hear from you as we try to grow our knowledge of our river and wildlife.
Images courtesy of RWF member John Tickner. |