We had a fascinating wildlife afternoon at the Linklater last Sunday. Despite the changeable weather, from hot sun to heavy showers, there was still plenty to see and share with the Bank Holiday Sunday visitors. Adjacent to the reserve on the banks of the River Ouse a patient heron hunted for small fish, standing patiently [...]
Paul has now repaired and re-sited the underwater cam in the heart of reeds. Installing the camera disturbs a lot of sediments making the water cloudy. The water is beginning to settle and today we were able to see some of the fish swimming past the camera. The large silvery coloured fish are rudd. We also [...]
Well done to Punnetts Town for sending in their observations of some fascinating behaviour of pond snails gliding around on the front of the underwater camera on pond cam and also a great close up of a stickleback. (screen shot left) Other observations from Punnetts Town included more stickleback observations in the same pond and also mallard ducks [...]
During the school visit pond dipping sessions two schools accidentally caught fish eggs. Adult fish, such as Rudd, often lay their eggs in a clump which sticks to a rock or similar object. It looks like a few fish thought that the wooden structure beneath the pond dipping platform was a safe place to lay [...]
We have been seeing some very interesting views of sticklebacks through pond cam and Heart of Reeds cam. Sticklebacks are very hardy little fish that are often found in ponds and ditches. There are two different types on the reserve, three-spined stickleback and the less common ten-spined stickle back. The three-spined stickleback is the most common species [...]
Last Friday, after Robsac School's pond dipping session, we found a small pond animal swimming around in the container which was pointed out by one of the children. We had already chosen the 10 pond creatures for the broadcast so it was not mentioned. However this fascinating pond creature is called Argulus also known as a fish louse. [...]
In the autumn last year, adult common eels migrated down the river Ouse and other Sussex rivers to the sea. Their return to the sea was the first stage of a very long migration when thousands of common eels swim to the Sargasso Sea where they are believed to breed. The adult eels live in [...]
We are seeing some great views of fish through the underwater cams. The stripy fish are 3 spine sticklebacks and they have been coming right up closed to underwater cam in the pond and also the Heart of Reeds. We have also been seeing a fish called rudd in the Heart of Reeds. These are [...]
We have been seeing lots of activity though pond cam this past week. Many pond creatures are still in the pond but remain dormant in the cold winter months. However this year the winter has been relatively mild so far. We have also had a lot of natural flooding which has also included the woodland pond. [...]
We have had a very unusual winter so far, much milder than normal on many days, but also very changeable. Why do we think this is happening and what makes it so changeable? Well firstly wind has brought warmer weather from the south and the west giving us a mild winter when countries to the [...]
