On a gloriously mild and sunny morning 14 members assembled at the Woodgate car park for a follow-up to the Head Warden’s talk to us a week previously.
In a well-illustrated talk Dave Brady had explained to us how the Trust was allowing woody debris to fall into the River Bure to provide more natural control of the river’s flow. Now we were to see this for ourselves on land not normally open to the public.
As we entered the woodland stretch of the river one wondered why anyone needed to travel to places like Borneo to see such magnificent forest that abounds with bird sounds. One the one hand the jays in particular seemed to screech at us while a cheerful robin sang us a welcoming anthem. Once adjacent to the river we soon saw the effects of felling trees or branches into the stream. Weed and sediment would gradually accumulate to provide a wide range of habitat for fish and a range of invertebrates as well as, we observed, a rather large American crayfish! The stream would naturally meander between the new ‘obstructions’ and scour the bed in the process to provide the riffles and pools needed for the fish. As often as not the woody debris had been felled – or allowed to fall – parallel to the riverbank but occasionally a trunk would straddle the stream so long as it did not impede flow. This method of allowing the stream to develop its own natural adjustment without expensive mechanical treatment is being intensely studied by several universities who are looking at both the biology and the geomorphology of the stream.
It was a fascinating outing and we are very grateful to Dave and the Trust for allowing us to penetrate this beautiful piece of temperate forest.