March was a month of heavy and prolonged rain that replenished the aquifers and the river rose to just over its banks in places. April was a warm dry month, the warmest since records commenced. The bluebells appeared both before and after the wild garlic. I spotted two ephemera danica mayflies hatching the last week in April. The river has been provided with variable rainfall and variable temperatures, it is of little surprise that the river and its surrounding banks produce their own time phasing to produce the wildlife in our river meadow. May is proving to be a month of decent rainfall, the river now with decent flush of water with a tinge of colour, which is a reasonable situation for the time of year. We hope all our members have a pleasant and enjoyable time in the company of the River Whitewater this season.
Over the close season our conservation and maintenance work continued by willing volunteers. We carried out clearance of fly grabbing trees upstream from the mill side stream up to the top weir. Below the farmbridge to the hatchgate bridge we coppiced several trees as part of our established maintenance and conservation cycle. Charles the farmer helped here by coppicing two large trees on the glide just up from the hatch gate bridge. Charles also fired his tractor up to clear two significant islands that have formed during several consecutive dry winters, one just down from the top weir, and the other just up from the road bridge. Both of these were diverting the water and causing considerable backside erosion. Our mink traps are back in force. Captures continued last year and it is expected more will be culled this year. It is unlikely mink will be eradicated completely, but we can but try, and certainly we can reduce their numbers. Mink captures are reported annually back to the Wildlife Trust who are tracking results countrywide. The crayfish traps will again be installed during the crayfish brooding period of late August and September. The last two years have yielded only a few captures, yet we still see these pseudo lobsters in our river. Remember it is the small ones to capture, as the bigger adults can be cannibalistic.
Now a moan, and for good reason. Members are reminded they MUST display their issued F&DAS Fly Fishing badges in their car window when parking in the lay-bys to access our river. By not doing this you are causing deep stress to our River Keepers & Bailiffs who without seeing your badge in your car think they may have to be dealing with a non member / poacher, all not pleasant. Remember which ever vehicle you come to the river in you MUST display your badge. Non-compliance with this River Whitewater rule will lead to non-membership.