Litter walk (with a bit of balsam pulling thrown in)

I saw quite a bit of litter on my survey the other day so Andrew and I set off to do a bit of clearing upstream from St Peter's Church. We collected three bags plus a traffic cone!

We also cleared the patches of balsam I saw the other day plus a few more which we found on the opposite bank. The river level was quite low so very easy for wading.

First survey 2019

Following an unusually warm spell earlier in the year, it has been a fairly cool Spring. However, after a cool start to the day, the temperature started to rise during my first survey of the year from Nightingale's Bridge to Cogmill.

Overall the balsam situation wasn't too bad though there could be a lot still hiding in the undergrowth.

In summary:

- from the opposite bank, I could see some plants growing at the corner of Hilly Fields.
- along the riverbank by the Community Orchard there were a few little plants. Someone had pulled out a few so I added some more to the pile.
- along Meadow Mead, I only saw one plant amongst the nettles. I could also see some biggish ones low down on the opposite bank.
- at the little islands upstream from Black Rocks, there was a small clump on the near bank and what looked like quite a few on the opposite bank.

The Spring flowers were out in abundance.