After yesterday's pollution report I walked the river this morning on both banks (where accessible) from Stubbins to Ewood bridge, there was a cold northerly wind and barely 7 degrees.
Firstly it may be to soon to assess any loss of species further up the food chain than invertberates and there was no evidence of any fish kill, with several trout and one chub seen.......
Mallard...several groups of males which would indicate females sitting.
Goosander....two males two females fishing in Irwell vale.
Grey Heron....one on the river at Ewood bridge.
Dipper.....I know of 5 nest sites this year, I only saw birds at two locations and a bird was sitting at one, could have missed the others.
Grey Wagtail....there has been two pair showing nesting activity recently, one pair were on territory today, the others were not seen.
Kingfisher.....there are two nest sites in the area, but none were seen.
Sand Martins....the nest site in Strongstry was very active with at least 6 pair in and out of holes, as this species feeds on both land and water based insects there is a possibility they can maintain a food supply from terrestrial insects only.
I will draw no conclusions from this early/short visit and with still low temperatures I would not have expected to see many water bourne insects emerging, so a return visit in perhaps a week should give us a better indication of the result of this pollution.
Post Brexit events like this could become pretty frequent, as leaked government memos would suggest our environmental protection laws could come second to trade deals. Our environmental protection laws could be removed from statute at the swipe of a pen once the great real bill is enacted. I grew up as a lad in Salford and can remember the Irwell, a lifeless open sewer with a smell that hit the back of your throat. Let's hope this doesn't happen hey? It's reported that Mr Gove is already preparing to dismantle the habits directive to make development near and on these sites possible.
