Green Ford

 

Green Ford

 

Preparing for extraction

This bridge over Linford Brook has been temporary strengthened in preparation for timber harvest and extraction from the surrounding Milkham enclosure. There's a lot of forestry activity around the enclosures at the moment, mostly the thinning of mature Douglas stands. Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) timber is of high quality and much sought after and valued by carpenters for a wide range of uses. 

Another bare bottom

Well, the fleeting rains did little to refresh or replenish the forest's brooks and streams. Linford Brook is yet another waterway currently identifying as a gravel track, and has done for a number of weeks now; this photo was taken quite close to the brook's source too in Milkham Enclosure.

Roach?

I'm not up on fish so much, and so am sure what this fish is, although I think it could be a young Roach (Rutilus rutilus). Whatever type of fish it's very adept at camouflage, becoming almost invisible amongst the gravel and shadows of Linford Brook; it's only because the moved as we approached that I saw them, if they hadn't I'd have passed by unawares. There were several of the same species milling about, all of what I thought were a good size for such a small and shallow brook; nearby were some much smaller fry, numbering maybe about 20/30 or so. I'm happy, though quite worried to see fish of this size in our forest streams: firstly, happy that our streams are well enough to support them; though, worried as these streams dry out quickly, how do they survive? It's only April now, and the brook is already exposed gravel in many sections; by the time summer's here proper, the only water that remains is held in dark skanky looking pools.