River Wharfe Buckden Invertebrate Monitoring: February 2020

Thursday 27 February 2020

River Wharfe Buckden - 27th February 2020

Amazed to find both a sunny day and normal river level to do my @Riverflies monitoring on the Wharfe at Buckden today. Not only that, but my average invertebrate score was even bettered with a solid ‘11’. Given all the recent rain and spate floods I had been expecting the worst! pic.twitter.com/MZnTso60U5
— ian banks (@AtollUK) February 27, 2020

River Wharfe Buckden Invertebrate Monitoring: River Wharfe Buckden - 27th February 2020 https://t.co/KmNtdROQXZ
— ian banks (@AtollUK) February 27, 2020

Click on 2020 Riverfly Monitoring table above or long term ARMI Results Graph below to view bigger image of monitoring Jan 2020 - Dec 2020 inclusive.

NOTE: Environment Agency Trigger Levels have been increased for the River Wharfe from from '1' to '5' until further notice, as of February 2016.

Riverflies ARMI Link and Monitoring Page for River Wharfe Buckden

About Riverflies Partnership

Supplementary Readings (Non scientific / for information only):

27 Feb 20
12:30
Kettlewell River Level 0.5 falling

https://www.riverlevels.uk/river-wharfe-kettlewell-with-starbotton-kettlewell#history

Air 06 deg C est.
Water 03 Deg C est.

Clean Water for Wildlife

Not done

Cased Caddis 4 = A1
Caseless Caddis 5 = A1
Stonefly 13 = B2
Olive 120 = C3
Stoneclinging Nymph 110 = C3
Blue Winged Olive 1 = A1
Mayfly Nymph = 0 = 0

TOTAL SCORE = 11

OTHER

Bullhead 1
Blackfly Lavae 1
Worm 2
Midge pupae 4
White nymph (unknown) 1

River Recipe 2

Take 3 buckets of river stirred up
with the feet till storm-cloudy. Take 3 random stones
from the river, rinse with river water into a bucket
& remove. Pour all into a plastic tray, preferably white
for better observation.

Exclude the shape-shifting leech, writhing
stray water worm, 3 crayfish the size
of your fingernails & a Blue-winged Olive
that hatches while you gather, thus
excluding itself from the count.

Cased Caddis X 15. Uncased Caddis X 16.
Bullhead x 2. Stonefly x 20.
One Stone-clinging Nymph.
Blue-winged Olive x 9.
Olive x 10.

List, photograph,
liberate all back to
where they came from.
Repack equipment.
Report findings.

Now look around:
this low river in a dry Dales June
in the feathered shade of a curtain of ash
trees by a three-hundred-year-old limestone bridge

& the hills, silent and still, up near the sky.

Robert Powell June / July 2018

The Riverfly Partnership ARMI

The Anglers’ Riverfly Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) has been established throughout the UK since 2007 and is coordinated by the Riverfly Partnership. Anglers and conservation volunteers from more than 100 partner organisations carry out regular freshwater invertebrate surveys to check for severe changes in water quality. Target Groups of invertibrates monitored and counted following a 3-minute kick sample include: Cased Caddis, Caseless Caddis, Mayfly, BWO, Flat Bodied (Heptageniidae) Olives, Stoneflies and Freshwater Shrimp.

Freshwater Biogical Association

The Freshwater Biological Association (FBA) took over from Salmon & Trout Conservation UK (S&TC) as Riverfly Partnership host at the beginning of April 2017. FBA s a thriving membership association, independent scientific organisation and a registered charity. Founded in 1929, we promote freshwater science through innovative research, maintained specialist scientific facilities, a programme of scientific meetings, production of publications, and by providing sound independent scientific opinion.

Yorkshire Dales River Trust

Led by the Trust, the Upper Wharfe Restoration Project (UWRP) focusses on catchment scale restoration from source of the Wharfe to Grassington. Funded by the Environment Agency, the objective is to improve failing water bodies under the Water Framework Directive. As part of this, the Upper Wharfe SSSI Project has classed the river a nationally important Site of Special Scientific Interest for wildlife and habitat. The SSSI covers the river channel and small areas of adjacent floodplain between Buckden and upstream of the River Skirfare confluence near Kettlewell. The Wharfe SSSI is currently classed in poor condition as a result of historic management methods which prevent the river from functioning naturally, reducing its ecological health. Click on the image and link below to download the full report.