I'd love to understand why this beautiful 0.3km stretch of Old Carr Stream, a potentially prime #Norfolk #chalkstream, has so few fish - saw no sticklebacks, 1 Bullhead, 1 shy Brown Trout - but also healthy looking parr (maybe 2, or 2nd could have been a bullhead).
#Oxborough #Wissey #Breckland 7/7
Yet despite all those fish and the tranquil allure of the clear-looking River Wissey from the surface, below there is a shocking amount of algae suffocating the macrophytes & quite a thick layer of silt on the bed of this precious chalk stream, my favourite. #Norfolk #Wissey 5/17
The huge numbers of Silver Bream in the River Wissey were mainly hanging out in shoals of the even more numerous Roach, several of which seemed to be injured or diseased. Also a few Chub and Perch.
#Freshwaterfish #freshwaterfishes #Norfolk #RiverWissey #Wissey #SilverBream
2/17
Yesterday, not many of the Minnows in the River Wissey at Borough Fen were, like these ones, mature and all flashy in breeding condition.
#Wissey #RiverWissey #Foulden #Norfolk #Minnows #Breckland #MondayMood
7/14
At Borough Fen, among the shoals of hundreds of small Dace fringing the River Wissey - often rather curious of snorkelers if you stay still, there were quite a few little Roach and the occasional Perch.
#RiverWissey #Wissey #Roach #Perch #Dace #Breckland #Foulden #Norfolk 5/14
A Mute Swan snoozed on the banks of the rather full Wissey while over the river bank, on Hilgay Wetland Creation, Shoveler Ducks, Teal, Mallard, Gadwall & Cormorants shared the big pool with Greylag & Canada Geese.
#Hilgay #Norfolk #Fenland #TheFens #Wissey #BirdsSeenIn2023 3/7
The Wissey a balmy 6.6°C today (air 8.9). Fun to share this favourite chalk stream with Canadian cousin Christoph on blue sky winter day, with water visibility quite good, tho' flowing fast. But Christoph no match for the chill of this East Anglian river!
#Wissey #Norfolk 2/2
Hardly saw any fish in the 500 m of #Wissey Little River past Northwold Lodge; visibility v. poor, vegetation swathed in algae, gross silt on riverbed where the only sign of animal life was marauding Signal Crayfish. #RiverWissey #chalkstreams #Breckland #Northwold #Norfolk
3/5
In Wissey Little River through Northwold, in the faster flowing stretches, the dominant submergent plant is Water Crowfoot (Ranunculus sp.), with banks of Starwort (Callitricher sp.), over clean sands & gravels, with clear water. #Wissey #Norfolk #wildflowerhour #chalkstreams 6/8
Think these could be some silvery Dace in the huge shoals of Chub in Wissey Little River? At the lower bridge also some Perch. Saw a little Gudgeon & Stickleback but not sure met any Bullheads or Minnows - tho' light poor. #Northwold #Wissey #Norfolk #Breckland #chalkstreams 3/8
Overwhelming densities of Brown Trout in upper Wissey today, highest density have ever seen - including by far the biggest single shoal (in a dark pool). Guess at least some of them are stocked going by the damaged dorsal fins and missing scales on body? #BrownTrout #Wissey 2/7
Only discovered the human skull in Lode Dike after found River Gadder at Oxborough Hythe & Oxborough Drain unswimmable, both completely choked with vegetation. @OxburghHallNT always looks good tho'. Wonder if skull is connected...
#Chalkstreams #Wissey #Breckland #Norfolk 5/5
Returned to Wissey Little River at Cranwich in search of Spined Loach. Even with help from sharp-eyed Jude Allport, & a few obliging Gudgeon trying to fool us (despite their obvious scales, which loach lack), drew a blank.
#MySwim #Gudgeon #Chalkstreams #Wissey #Cranwich
1/2
Here's another picture of a breach from the River Wissey into Little River - untended to by @EnvAgency for about a decade.
Lovely pool into which another small stream flows thro' a culvert, up which I swam.
#Wissey #RiverWissey #Cranwhich #Breckland #Norfolk #Chalkstreams
7/12
Concerning that in 4 places at Cranwich, breaches in the bank of the main River Wissey are causing rushing torrents coming across into the parallel Little River, home of Spined Loach...
@EnvAgency @AngliaEnforceEA @OuseEcologyEA #Wissey #Breckland #Norfolk #Chalkstreams
6/12
With kind permission, swam the 1 km circumference of a gravel pit lake at Watermill Broad Nature Reserve. Water beautifully clear but saw only a small shoal of fry & 2 pike incl. this monster >1 m long who coolly came out to meet us. #MySwim #pike #Wissey #Northwold #Norfolk
1/12
I shared the Wissey Little River, as it flows through beds of bur-reed, with broods of Mallards & Greylags who were a bit surprised to see me.
Was also spied by a female Grey Wagtail.
#BirdsSeenIn2022 #Wissey #Northwold #Norfolk #Breckland #chalkstreams #chalkstream
7/7
In 500 m of prime Norfolk chalk stream, met dozens and dozens of adorable Brown Trout parr, some a good 10 cm. Only saw a few adults. One female can lay as many as 10,000 eggs, here in the clean flint gravels of the Wissey Little River.
#Wissey #Northwold #BrownTrout #parr
2/7
A Mute Swan escorted us from Lode Dike down the River Wissey back to Whittington, the grand Weeping Willows stunning in the evening light.
#MuteSwan #Chalkstreams #Wissey #Whittington #Norfolk #BirdsSeenIn2022
6/6
...Lode Dike, or at least the last 0.5 km of it before it joins the Wissey, was a dead zone. Didn't see a single fish. Heavy silt, algae and yucky scum. Why?
#Chalkstreams #Wissey #Whittington #norfolk #Breckland
4/6
I love the leaves of Yellow Water Lilies though they provide good hiding places for the fish - such as this Roach. Shame they are so silt covered in the Wissey at Whittington.
#chalkstreams #waterlilies #Breckland #Norfolk #Wildflowerhour #wissey #riverwissey #roach
2/6
Explored up the delightful chalk stream, Little River, from its confluence with the Wissey. Utterly entranced by the thick banks of River Water Crowfoot (Ranunculus fluitans)? with which it was spangled.
#Chalkstreams #Wissey #SundayMorning #wildflowerhour #Northwold 4/13
As the foundering Drake Mackerel Mayflies drifted down the Wissey past Oxborough Ferry, there were other mayflies on the wing as well. Could this be Large Dark Olive (Baetis rhodani)? There were smaller ones as well.
#Chalkstreams #Wissey #Mayflies #Mayfly #Riverflies
3/13
Here is a fish eye view of a Drake Mackerel Mayfly and its exuvia. The whole Wissey was strewn with these, a brisk conveyor belt of river life in progress. (Came home with several stuck to me, washed off in bath.)
#Chalkstreams #Wissey #exuvia #Mayflies #Mayfly #Riverflies
2/13
Exhilarating yesterday being in the midst of a mayfly hatch on the River Wissey at Oxborough Ferry - mostly Drake Mackerels (Ephemera vulgata), I think - quite hapless beasts.
#MySwim #Chalkstreams #RiverWissey #Wissey #Norfolk #Breckland #Mayflies #Mayfly #Riverflies
1/13
At its confluence with the River Wissey, the narrow little chalk stream the River Gadder, projects a lovely tongue of clean sand out into the sadly murky waters of the River Wissey.
#RiverWissey #Wissey #chalkstreams #Norfolk #Breckland #Oxborough #EarthDay #EarthDay2022
4/5
There's some obstacles to swimming in the River Wissey - we could go under most of the fallen trunks & over the rest.
Only place we saw fish (apart from Bullheads) was the gentler northern branch which joined the main channel by a patch of Club-rush.
#Wissey #RiverWissey
5/6
Look! My best #chalkstream find yet - a River God!
(Can't wait for @anicolson's article on #chalkstreams in @NatGeo next year!)
#MySwim #Wissey #RiverWissey #Ickburgh #Norfolk
1/2
I wonder if there is a way to get my new Olympus Tough TG-6 to focus on the Water Crowfoot in one shot that comes straight up from Brown Trout under water?
#Ickburgh #Wissey #RiverWissey #Chalkstreams #Chalkstream #Norfolk #browntrout #trout
8/11
The Brown Trout parr have to work quite hard to stay in the same spot in the brisk River Wissey. Some individuals at least are in the same spot week after week. #Ickburgh #Wissey #RiverWissey #Chalkstreams #Chalkstream #Norfolk #browntrout #trout #troutparr
@WildTroutTrust 7/11
