About 2 months ago when I was feeling flush and on a frenzy of booking stuff (Firework Makers Daughter, dressing up movie premiere gala nights, that sort of thing ;)) I also tried to book an event at Chichester Harbour Conservancy – a Stream Walk. It was fully booked even a couple of months in advance so I asked to be added to their cancellation list which seemed like a quaint idea to them but about 3 weeks ago I got a phone call to say someone had indeed dropped out so there were 3 spaces if we wanted them, which we did. They then rang me again last week to say that due to the reeds in the stream growing so thick and high the walk along the stream was simply not possible but the event would run as a stream dipping event if we were still interested. I was quite disappointed and having done pond dipping several times in various places and frankly having gotten a bit bored personally by it I was in half a mind to cancel and get a refund but decided on a whim to go along anyway.
So we had to up with an alarm this morning as depending on traffic that drive can be 25 minutes or 2 hours 25 minutes. I decided to err on the side of caution and allow 1 hour 25 minutes which meant being out of the house before 9am. We managed it and it was a smooth run in about 45 minutes meaning we had time for me to nip into a supermarket nearby for some supplies for later. We’ve been listening to Eliza Doolittle’s album and really enjoying it although some of the topics are proving to be ones I’d really rather not be explaining (think Lily Allen if you’ve not heard her before although not nearly so foul mouthed).
I’d not been sure if nets would be provided for the stream dipping and if so how many so we’d brought Davies and Scarlett’s nets along with us incase. When we arrived everyone was being issued with a net, a tray, a spotter sheet and a magnifying container per family so Scarlett grabbed her net out of the car so they would have one each.
We began with the obligatory H&S talk – five families, most with one adult and two children although there was one with two adults and one child and then another late arrival of two adults and three children. We walked to the stream and had a chat about the differences between ponds and streams (regular shape versus narrowing and widening, pretty consistent vegetation surrounding verus changing, flow of water versus still water) and were shown the difference between pond dipping (stick your net in and swish it around a bit) and stream dipping (flat sided net, lay it on the stream bed, do the stream dipping shuffle to kick up sediment and stuff from the bottom and hold the net in the river flow). I bent Tarly’s net to modify it into a stream dipping net by giving it a flat edge and into the stream we went :).
It was very much an open session with everyone left to their own devices and the rangers on hand to ooh and ahh over what you’d caught if you wanted or leave you to it. Davies and Scarlett caught a good selection of waterboatman, freshwater shrimps, various fly larvae and we used the very good spotter sheets supplied to identify them.
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Then came the cry that someone had caught a baby eel. We all gathered round to marvel and look at it and that upped the ante rather as everyone was then after outdoing that as the ‘catch of the day’. Davies rather splendidly managed it with a far bigger eel 🙂
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We all looked at that for a while and then as we tried to release it it escaped and was slithering down the bank. Scarlett caught it again in her net
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and then Davies released it
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We then walked down the stream a bit further to a space between two bridges where the water was rather deeper and the banks rather steeper. It was rich in fish – flounders and flat fish and the whole group used one tray and pooled findings. We ended up with loads of fish :). I managed to slowly and almost gracefully lose my balance to sit on the bank, getting mud all up my legs 😆
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Davies got water in both wellies so clambered out and did some photography and cheering on instead 🙂
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It was very rich in creatures and I loved the feeling of them all wriggling about when you cupped your hand under the net to view your findings, all tickly and teeming with life 🙂
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Finally we released all the caught wildlife back into the stream and climbed out. Scarlett spotted a frog and was determined to catch it, which of course she did, so the group gathered round to look 🙂
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Then it was time to put nets over our shoulders and trudge back to the carpark.
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The kids declared it ‘excellent’ although both thought it would have been even better with the stream walk included. It’s an annual event so I can’t say ‘maybe next year’ but I guess I can say ‘maybe the year after’ or even console ourselves with the amazing amount of wildlife we’ll see next year :).
The drive home was more trafficky but we had plenty of time for lunch and then some popcorn making before heading into Lancing to meet Rose at the video hire store. We enjoyed watching the corn pop and talking about what happens to it, it’s actually an experiment I recall doing at school over a bunsen burner when I was 13 :).
In the video store the plan was for Rose and I to choose one dvd and the kids to choose another, for us to watch downstairs and them to watch upstairs. Depsite forewarning them of the need to compromise Davies and Scarlett didn’t really manage it, Rose was doing her best teacher-ing and I was getting increasingly hacked off with them so eventually Davies who was being most rational ended up with his choice and Scarlett who was being a mare ended up being told she could go and play with the chickens instead of watching a film. A lecture on the way back from the video shop to home with Rose in her car behind us restored Scarlett’s sense of humour and behaviour and the rest of the afternoon they spent taking the opportunity I had made clear was on offer for them to redeem themselves :).
So they took their popcorn off upstairs and watched 9 their review was that it was short and a bit sad but very good. While we ate our popcorn and drank tea and watched The Changeling with our verdict being very good, powerful film if rather disturbing. I’ve since been learning all about the true story it was based on and feeling even more sorry for Christine Collins.
We managed some chatting, I updated Rose on the whole plan for next year idea and the kids came and joined us, bringing geomags to play with while we had one last cup of tea before Rose needed to head off to collect Mike from the station. I made the modest requests from the kids for their dinner (considering all the popcorn they didn’t have much room) and we looked at some images of narwhals online. Ady arrived home and I dug out ‘think of an eel’ a book I was sure we had but was frustrated by not having an online catalogue of what books we do have and where they are like we do at the library. I was right and even found it on the exact shelf of the precise bookcase in the room I thought it was in, so yay me :).
I read Think of an eel and we talked about eels and then I read ‘The Best of Times’ from the heap of Morpurgo books we seem to have gathered.
Davies and Scarlett went to bed, I made a start on dinner, had a bath, chatted to Julie on the phone for about 3/4 hour, served dinner and talked to Ady about campervans and watched an episode of Outnumbered and one of The Good Life with him, which is what I rather imagine our life will be a cross of 😆
that does sound fun – although a little out of my comfort zone. Really do not like water creatures!! Better than bog standard pond dipping anyway!
Have spent an hour researching all sorts connected to that film; Arthur Hutchins, Walter Collins and the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders. So, so tragic. Will not see that film as lots of criticism of Jolie turning refined Christine Collins into a screaming woman who has lost control.
Sort of thank you I guess as has been interesting but very dispiriting.