We join Richard on his monthly visit to River Tone in Runnington, to learn how riverfly kick sampling works. For three minutes, Richard kicks up the mud/gravel/stones of the river and catches the creatures that float free in his net, then we count and identify them. Like pond dipping, it’s great fun, but somewhat fiendish because most of the minibeasts are, well, tiny, especially in the winter. It’s also very important, because riverflies are the ‘canaries in the coalmine’ of river health.
There has been a severe drop in numbers of riverflies in our polluted riverscapes since the 60s. We met Richard in a lovely, rural bit of river, and so together we find quite a lot to marvel at, including larvae of Caddis, Mayflies, Olives, Stone Clingers and Damselfly.
Learn a bit about the riverflies' lifecycles, and enjoy this peaceful live-action episode, starring River Tone on a mild damp September day. More info here: https://www.riverflies.org/