# River life photos



## MirandaB

Seeing as the weather is rather warm at the moment I'm spending a lot of time in the river so thought I'd share a few photos on here


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## MirandaB

Few more from today


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## Wolf6

Lovely pics  Looks like a lot of wildlife around and in the river there!


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## Wookii

Some lovely pictures there - I like the one close to the water surface. 

Nice little baby pike too - perfect torpedo predator in miniature, That could be a 20lb'er in 10 years!


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## MirandaB

Wookii said:


> Nice little baby pike too - perfect torpedo predator in miniature, That could be a 20lb'er in 10 years!



I often wish they stayed that size,I'd love to keep one in a tank 
They're surprisingly chilled out too,I just gently netted that one from its hiding place under the overhanging bank and it wasn't bothered at all.


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## arderalwar

Amazing macro photos!


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## mort

I was looking for another photo and stumbled upon this from a couple of months ago. Not the most colourful dragonfly but one of the rarer species.


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## MirandaB

That's a fantastic shot Mort!
I can never get photos of the Dragonflies in the garden as they rarely seem to land long enough which is a shame.


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## dw1305

Hi all, 





mort said:


> Not the most colourful dragonfly but one of the rarer species.


Brilliant, Norfolk Hawker. I've never lived in the right part of England to see one.

cheers Darrel


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## mort

MirandaB said:


> That's a fantastic shot Mort!
> I can never get photos of the Dragonflies in the garden as they rarely seem to land long enough which is a shame.



I've been quite lucky this year in our garden and seen 5 or 6 different species flying about. I had a few sticks supporting floppy plants and deliberately left them longer, up to about 5ft, and they made good resting spots for some of them.


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## mort

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, Brilliant, Norfolk Hawker. I've never lived in the right part of England to see one.
> 
> cheers Darrel



I only really see them at one small broad which has appropriate dykes for them but they are very abundant there. It's also where the cetti's warblers hang out.


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## zozo

Indeed nice pics and beautiful baby pike... 🥰

Pikes in a decent size actually taste good (Lard with bacon).  Is slightly comparable with trout but has considerably more bones.


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## dw1305

Hi all, 





zozo said:


> but has considerably more bones


Lots of lovely little, very sharp, Y shaped ones scattered throughout the flesh. When I fished I used to eat the 3 -  4 kg sized ones in the winter as "fish cakes", but some bones always got through. 

cheers Darrel


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## MirandaB

mort said:


> I've been quite lucky this year in our garden and seen 5 or 6 different species flying about. I had a few sticks supporting floppy plants and deliberately left them longer, up to about 5ft, and they made good resting spots for some of them.



I'll have to try that trick in future,thanks for the tip 
There's been about half a dozen hunting up and down the garden in the late afternoon but the weather has put a stop to that.


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## MirandaB

Surprisingly the small piece of that Fissidens in the photos I put in one of my tanks is growing away well.


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## castle

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, Lots of lovely little, very sharp, Y shaped ones scattered throughout the flesh. When I fished I used to eat the 3 -  4 kg sized ones in the winter as "fish cakes", but some bones always got through.
> 
> cheers Darrel



I used to take one jack a season; only from a weir pool that had trout in it. Still a touch muddy, but far too many bones, you're right - should have been fish cakes. Larousse gastronomique has a few recipes for pike.


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## not called Bob

had pike terrine, when helping to sort fish in La Brenne,  if you took enough for the chefs to sell on, then they would debone etc and make a nice meal

got pics some where of haendsorting the pike, carp and tench from the seines, for the table and restocking other mud ponds


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## dw1305

H all, 





not called Bob said:


> then they would debone etc and make a nice meal


You are meant to be able to de-bone them, but it was pre-WWW and I never found anybody who knew how to do it. I don't fish now, so it is too late for me.

Now YouTube is your friend.



cheers Darrel


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## BarryH

From my local reservoir, a fairly large family of Kingfishers.


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## sparkyweasel

MirandaB said:


> That's a fantastic shot Mort!
> I can never get photos of the Dragonflies in the garden as they rarely seem to land long enough which is a shame.


You're not training them right


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## mort

From the local broad


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## mort

This is where the dragonflies hang out 













and so do these but you normally just see a brown bum disappearing into the reeds


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## MirandaB

Well the cold Spring doesn't appear to have affected the Sticklebacks breeding in my tubs,it's a bumper crop this year and god knows what I'll do with them all


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## MirandaB

First Demoiselle I've seen this year and sadly she's injured but still quite active


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## PARAGUAY

Lovely photos


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## MirandaB

Another visitor to the tubs today


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## mort

Hi Miranda, can I ask how deep the stickleback tubs are? and if they are sunk into the ground at all? I've got a plan in my head for two long reed beds and they might make an interesting  addition that I'd never considered before.


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## MirandaB

They're currently in these @mort,not sunken into the ground but they are placed where they only get full sun in the morning so they don't get too warm.
If you do decide you'd like some you're more than welcome to some of mine for a small donation to the forum Laguna Rectangular Goldfish Tub  130x80x46cm | Welcome to Porton Garden Aquatic & Pets


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## MirandaB

Poplar Hawk moth on the left and Eyed Hawk moth on the right,my neighbour is a Moth enthusiast so has a trap out most evenings


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## Ady34

MirandaB said:


> Well the cold Spring doesn't appear to have affected the Sticklebacks breeding in my tubs,it's a bumper crop this year and god knows what I'll do with them all


Perhaps a native scape?


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## MirandaB

Ady34 said:


> Perhaps a native scape?


It has definitely been on my mind!


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## mort

Mighty Blighty: Set up a tank for Sticklebacks!
					






					www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk


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## MirandaB

I'd definitely go a lot bigger.....and cheaper


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## oddn0ise

just adding to the great selection of dragonflies in this thread...
From a back garden in London...


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## dw1305

Hi all,


oddn0ise said:


> From a back garden in London...


Nice, that is a "Migrant Hawker" (I just had a thought that the name could be misconstrued, so nobody tell Priti Patel about this thread), despite it's name a common resident in S. England now.

cheers Darrel


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