Update on Blueprint for Water.

At the end of last month I wrote to my MP about the state of our local streams and rivers, it is here. I think she may have found the photos that I included a little awkward. She couldn't just fob me off with telling me all is well with freshwaters in the UK, not when she had seen pictures of pollution and physical damage occuring in the main water course in her constituency. Anyway here is her reply. She sort of admits there may be a problem with the River Churnet, but then goes on to tell me how wonderful are her government at looking after Britain's aquatic habitats. Read her letter below. But after you have read that click on the link underneath that to read that three environmental charities have been given leave to make a legal challenge into how DEFRA (government agency responsible for protecting the quality of our rivers) are neglecting to safeguard some of the country's most special wetlands. Needless to say I will be mentioning this in my follow-up letter to Karen Bradley.

http://www.wwf.org.uk/wwf_articles.cfm?unewsid=7661

Unusual sighting on Caldon Canal today.

I decided to walk to work (in Norton Heights) along the Caldon Canal  this morning. It took 1hr. 20mins. and I got absolutely soaking wet! However it was worth it as I saw a juvenile Common Sandpiper feeding alongside the Caldon Canal between Endon and Stockton Brook. This species is more usually associated with lake shores and stream and river edges. They are a summer visitor, coming here from Africa to breed. The bottom photo shows the garden where I noticed its distinctive and characteristic bobbing at the edge of the water. 

Wildflowers along the disused railway line August 2015.

At present there is a good display of wild flowers along the disused railway line. Here are some photos.

Harebells, Rose Bay Willowherb, Hawkweed sp. Mouse-eared Hawkbit etc.

Sneezewort.

Branched Bur-reed on Endon Brook where it passes under the railway. 

Fairy Flax.

Braod-leaved Willowherb and Hogweed. 

Large Scabious, White Valerian and RB Willowherb.

Meadowsweet, Knapweed plus more. 

Hymalayan Balsam. Broad-leaved Dock, Marsh Woundwort etc. (along track between railway and Caldon Canal). 

Ragwort, RB Willowherb etc.

Square-stemmed St John's Wort, Ragwort, etc.

Blueprint For Water 2015.

This letter to my MP is part of the Blueprint for Water campaign which is being run by a number of wildlife NGOs. http://blueprintforwater.org.uk/

Dear Ms Bradley

I am writing to you as a constituent who lives close to Endon Brook, Horton Brook and the River Churnet, I regularly walk past or alongside these water courses (the first two being tributaries of the third) and enjoy what wildlife there is to be seen. However, none are currently in a healthy state because they are suffering from: 

1. pollution from agriculture (i.e. effluent runoff) and road surfaces and sewage;

This photo shows silt and vehicle oils being washed off the A53 iin Endon into storm drains which open into the Endon Brook under Station Road, Endon. Photo of silty water once it reaches the stream below - taken on the same day. 

Taken after heavy rainfall on 26.02.15. 

This photo shows growths of biotic film and filametous algae and bacteria coating stones in Horton Brook. This is the result of animal manures from local fields and farms entering the water courses and causing eutrophcation, which in turn leads to a reduction in dissolved oxygen in the water. Ultimately this limits which species are able to live in the stream.

2. inappropriately and possibly illegally applied herbicide (form agriculture and domestic sources);

This photo was taken in May 2008 after herbicide had been sprayed adjacent to Endon Brook in Station Road, Endon. Pesticides should not be applied next to water courses without permission from the Environment Agency. This is one relatively minor example; I have see worse incidents that this on private farmland adjacent to Endon Brook.


3. excessive silting due to careless soil management and construction work;

This is an old hollow lane, Coalpitford Lane between Endon and Cheddleton where vehicle tyres have eaten in to the old hedge bank. In addition to loosening soil which eventually ends up in water courses, this activity damages our local landscape heritage. In other instances soils is being washed off fields and into water courses.

Silt from limestone chippings in farm gateway being washed into Horton Brook along Gratton Lane, June 2015. Silty suspensions in stream and river water can settle out on to fish and other aquatic creature's eggs, thereby starving them of essential oxygen. Suspended solids also block light to the leaves of aquatic plants which slows photosyntesis and, consequently further reduces oxygen levels in water.

4. channelisation and tidying up by private landowners;

Creating an artificial "trapezoidal"and self-clearing stream channel leaves an unvegetated, uniform, unatural canal-like channel. This provides far fewer ecological niches for aquatic invertrbrates than does a naturally meandering stream with riparian vegetation and that is allowed to spread out into its flood plain. (And, it reduces down-stream flooding into the bargain).

This section of the River Churnet (near Oakamoor) is taking a more natural course - it is being allowed to erode the cliff slope and deposit a silt bar on the slower flowing side of the river

5. litter;

These photos were taken in Endon. The first is where The Village Brook passes under the A53 and the second is where a tributary of the Endon Brook passes under Station Road. 

6. invasive plants (non-native and native species) smothering less vigorous aquatic and riparian vegetation, thereby leading to reduced biodiversity and aesthetic appeal.

Vigorous plant species such as the non-native Hymalayan Balsam and the native nettle are beneftitting from nutrient-rich soils alongside streams and rivers. These plants smother less vigorous species, therby reducing biodiversity. This is the River Churnet in Cheddleton in the summer of 2014.

6.obstructions, such as pipes, to aquatic wildlife that prevent them from accessing headwaters; 

This is one of the headwater stream os Endon Brook (and eventually the River Churnet). The piping causes the stream water to be rised up a step which will prevent most aquatic organisms from swimming to upstream habitats. 

7. misconnections (of domestic waste pipes to storm drains). 

The photos below show very common occurances in local streams; detergent bubbles floating on the surface and forming frothy accumulations where the water is held back by an obstacle. These photos are of Endon Brook where it passes under Station Road. The first was taken in June 2014 and the second, which could be milk or paint, in March 2013. (I reported both these and other incidents to the Enviromnemnt Agency)

These issues are symptomatic of a bigger, national scandal – just 17% of rivers across the whole of England are healthy, with many other rivers being subject to over-abstraction, pollution and poor management.

This is bad for people and wildlife and cannot be allowed to continue. 2015 is a key year for the Government to show its commitment to the water environment with the new six-year plans, River Basin Management Plans, setting out how all groundwater, rivers, streams and lakes should be managed so they can become healthy. The consultation on these draft plans ended in April; time is running out to make a difference. We must act now. I would therefore like you, as my MP, to write to the Environment Secretary, on behalf of your constituents, telling her about the current health of our local water bodies and the importance of improving their health in years to come.

House Martin Survey

METHOD.
This year and nest the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) are running a nationwide survey of the distribution, population and nest locations of House Martins http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/house-martin-survey. As is usual with the BTO Volunteers are carrying out the survey and I am one of them.  The survey sample sites are km squares of the Ordnance Survey maps that are randomly selected by the BTO and offered to volunteers to select. I chose to survey two sites that I could walk to from home (as I don't always have access to a vehicle). My squares were SJ9255, Blackwood Hill and SJ9356, Gratton. Both these locations are small rural settlements a couple of kms northish of Endon.

The survey consisted of two visists to the survey sites, carried out between June and July. I went on days when the weather was good for me and House Martins - its much easier to do these things if your papaerwork and map isn't getting wet or flapping around in the wind, and you are more likely to see thse insectiverous birds flying about catching prey.

The BTO monitoring shows that in recent years the British House Martin population has suffered a declines in the southern half  of the country while numbers are increasing in the north. So, perhaps they are pretty much the same in the middle, where we live?

Naturally, walking around lanes looking up at people's homes and farms with binoculars attracts some attention, so you have to be considerate of people's privacy. the BTO supply a leaflet to give to interested members of the public. BTO leaflet I handed quite a few out. And, if residents were in their gardens, I went in to talk to them about what I was doing. Most people are interested and most have bird feeders out so I felt I woould get a sympathetic hearing, which I did. In some cases, when people were not in I left a note at their house with my phone number so they could ring me if they had any nests around the backs or their houses. Two people rung me and I have detailed what they said below.

RESULTS.

My results were perhaps dissapointing, though I was not really sure what I would find. I could only base my expectations on when I used to live in Rugeley (mid. Staffs) in the 1980s. One one of my houses there we had House Martins nesting above the back door, though I can't remember how many nests were there at any one time. Anyway, I found no nests at all in Backwood and no House Martins were seen flying, even though I actually went three times. Gratton was better. I did see a few House Martins flying and found four houses with nests on. One was an old nest from a previous year and the owner told me that it was not being used this year. Another two had occupied nests. And the fourth "colony" was four artificial nests which had been installed by the homeowner - they were not been used.

DISCUSSION.
Both of the two sample sites have mainly older, stone built houses, that would have been farmworkers homes or farms and one large house (Blackwood Hall). There are some post WW2 houses of brick structure and lots of farm buildings, mostly built on a frame and then metal-clad. Of course, these days most farmworkers wold not be able to afford to buy these properties, and so it looks as though most of them are occupied by retired professionals, who have the money and inclination to maintain and improve ther homes and "modernise" their gardens. Most of the buildings, particularly in Blackwood, don't appear to be suited to House Martin nests; they don't have eaves on which to attach the top of the nest. So this may be part of the explanation as to why there were few nests. I did not see any nest deterrents, which is one of the things were were asked to look out for. On one of the houses that did have one nest under wide wooden eaves, there was staining that indicted that there were once nests attached, but these may have fallen down years ago. The other issue is that, being a relatively wealthy area, people do repair their houses which may result in nests being removed and perhaps reducing the chances of a local population of House Martins continuing to use the area.

Two people did phone me to help me with information about the local House Martins. One was the owner of the house with the artificial nest boxes. He was on holiday when I did the survey, but he phoned me when he got back. He was keen to have House Martins nest on his house, as they had some years ago, before he had it improved. In an attempt to attract them back, in previous years, he had provided a mud bath for making the nests and a chcken wire frame where they could be attached.  These methods did not work. At present he has four artificial nests on the back of his house. they have not been used. The other people to ohone were a couple who I had spoken during the survey days. On that day they had one nest on their property; it was occupied with House Martins. They have had House Martins nesting on thir house for a number of years. A couple of weeks later they told me about what had happened that day. They had found a dead baby House Martin on the ground below the nest, it is one of the second brood this year. Later on they found two more babies - these were alive. So they put up some ladders and replaced the nestling. The parents returned and attended to the chicks. Then, later on the nestlings were out of the nest on the ground once again. this time they were both dead. It turned out that it was a pair of House Sparrows that had evicted the rightful owners! This is nature "red in tooth and claw" as they say. This is what happens very often in the wild. Birds and other animals compete for nest sites and territory, and sometimes it results in death. Even cute, little, inoffensive-looking House Sparrows can be agressive when their instinct to breed leads them to fight another species for a site for their nest (these homeowners also have House Sparrows nesting under roof tiles at the front of their house).  Which sort of brings me back to the modern trend to maintain buildings to a high standard. Perhaps this is one of the causes for the population decline, lack of suitable nest sites? Though, given the current warming trends in our climate which may be affecting food supplies and House Martin breeding success, that might play a roles in the explination as to why the population is increasing in the north and decreasing in the south. The survey carries on next year when participants will be asked to monitor breeding activity at House Martin nest sites. I will try to take part in that survey too. And, I await the BTO's results with interest.

A view towards Blackwood, one of the House Martin survey squares.

 

Are there any glow-worms along the disused railway line?

Glow-worms are the female counterpart of a species of bioluminescent beetle.  there are three British species. The female's light, which shines green at night, helps her attract a male and deter predators http://www.bbc.co.uk/naturestop40/ep1/s38.shtml. Their larvae feed on snails and slugs, of which there are plenty on the disused railway line between Endon and Leek; the limestone ballast provides a source of calcium to build mollusc shells. Glow-worms have been seen on the railway line near Park Lane in the past, so I though I would have a look to see if there are any still there. So, on the evening of 15th July we went for an evening walk along the railway line to look for glow-worms lights. We didn't see any, but it was a lovely walk in any case. Here are some photos with captions telling of what we did see, smell, and hear.

Plenty of wild flowers. In this picture Rosebay willowherb, Hogweed, Meadowsweet and dock. 

Mist rising from pools, the canal and Endon Brook as the evening sky cooled down to dew point. A Grasshopper Warbler was singing near here, as it has been for the last month.

Profusely flowering Honeysuckle emitting a powerful and geourgeous scent. We didn't notice any moths around here at that time, however we did see bats which would undoubtedly be feeding on on moths that would be attracted to the nectar of the honeysuckle flowers. 

Canal and River Trust response.

After about six months of me pestering them I finally got the Canal and River Trust to address my concerns as to how they are managing the Caldon Canal with regard to its natural assets. Here is the letter that Perter Birch has sent me following my meeting with him and Darren Green (Manager of Central Shires Waterways). Judging by what was said during our meeting and this letter they appear to have admitted that they are not paying proper attention to how they care for the wildife on the canal. They say they sill do better in future. I don't have much conficdence that that will actually happen, but we'll see. Photos with captions describing what they get wrong are below the letter.

13th July 2015

Dear Wendy

Caldon wildLife

Many thanks for taking the time to meet Darren and I on site on 30^th June. We both felt it was a good opportunity to talk through the matters that were concerning you regarding the recent dredging work on the Caldon Canal. Through our discussions a number of areas were identified where we agreed that we could take action, which will include some revisions to our current practices as well as some local specific actions to deal with the issues you raised.

With reference to our conversation, I believe the following are a summary of the agreed actions:

1. I will ask my team to review the silt deposit at the winding hole and look for ways to reinstate wetland habitat at this location or somewhere else on this section of the Canal;
2. We will also draw up proposals for improving the water’s edge interface on the Nicospan disposal area at Baddeley Green;
3. We will review the specification for grass cutting at the back of the towpath adjacent to the former Thomas Bolton works in Froghall, to improve the protection for the orchids that are present there;
4. I’ll provide an example of where netting vegetation, prior to clearance to prevent bird nesting, has been carried out for your comments on the method;
5. We are already working on the Japanese Knotweed issue with Staffordshire Council and their contractor – I will provide an update on how this is being dealt with;
6. Darren will investigate the reason for the extensive spraying around the weir overflow close to Endon Road that we passed returning from our meeting on site and either provide a good explanation as to why this cannot be cut instead, or change the standard applied there;

We recognise how important and essential it is to have passionate local people working with us to manage this valuable environment for all to enjoy. Our meeting illustrated the benefit of having local people, such as yourself, looking at the work we have done and how we have gone about it, and providing critical feedback. As we discussed we would be really grateful if you would provide some further local knowledge in terms of areas where you or others have spotted rare or special species where we should be taking particular care or sites where we can relax or improve our vegetation management to create better habitats for the wildlife on the Caldon. Once we receive them, we will review these suggestions and let you know what can be done to improve the situation.

Once again, many thanks for your time and for sharing your views and ideas.

Yours sincerely

Peter Birch

National Environment Manager

E: Peter.birch@canalrivertrust.org.uk

T: 07860 737763

The Winding Hole before the CRT dumped dredgings on to it.....

...and here after the CRT dumped dredgings on to it, in spite of this action being in contradiction to prescriptions in an ecological study prepared for Staffs County Council as part of their preparations before they installed the Pedal2Peak cycle path.

Bank reprofiling on the canal at Baddeley Green was caried out at the end of 2014. See below for details. 

Bank reprofiling on the Caldon Canal at Baddeley Green was carried out is such a way as to make several hundred metres of canal hostile to much of the wildlife that uses reed fringes. The vertical nicospan edging has been positioned so that it is above the water level, even though the CRT's own rules say it should be 10cm below the water level. 

Japanese Knotweed has been spread along the canal by Staffordshire County Council during the cotstruction of Pedal2Peak. The CRT are aware of this but still send contractors out to strim the pathside vegetation, thus potentially spreading this pernicious weed to more places!!

Broad-leaved Helleborine growing alongside the towpath at Froghall which the CRT say they will now desist from strimming. 

An example of herbicide use by CRT. This is both unsightly and potentially against Environment Agency guidelines which require special conditions to be met before weedkiller can be applied within 1m of a water body.