Visitors and Invaders

While I was trying (unsuccessfully) to catch a fish for my dinner down at Ricketts Mill last night I was joined by a much more adept fisher. A huge dog otter slipped quietly into the lake and spend some time hunting. I didn’t see the result but I’m pretty sure he might have something to do with the dead moorhen I found later. Almost forgot, I saw the first kingfisher I’d seen down there too.

The Himalayan Balsam continues to be a huge problem. The river banks are choked with the stuff and it keeps appearing in odd isolated clumps where seeds have dropped from animals, vehicles and equipment. There is little chance of us controlling this invader, each plant produces around 800 seeds and can project them 4 metres! Without cooperation of all landowners in a catchment and a huge annual commitment of manpower and resources I feel there is little chance of success. In reality, we know that this is simply not possible. I guess we are stuck with it.

Drew

Comments are closed.