The spined loach is a small freshwater fish that spends most of the time buried in the silt of riverbeds. It is believed be in the UK as a result of the melting from the last Ice Age when the UK was connect to Europe. After the Ice Age rescinded, the ocean water levels increased for a time before decreasing enough to essentially separating some of the species from the rest that live in Europe. Brett Westwood joins Environment Agency Fisheries Officer Andy Beal and his team conducting a survey of this secretive and rare animal at Morton's Leam; a 15th Century river artificial course of the River Nene in Cambridgeshire.
Produced by Jamie Merritt
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Kultur & Literatur
Best of Natural History Radio Folgen
The BBC Natural History Unit produces a wide range of programmes that aim to immerse a listener in the wonder, surprise and importance that nature has to offer.
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361 Folgen
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Folge vom 01.02.2015The Living World - Spined Loach
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Folge vom 20.01.2015Shared Planet - Natural Symbols 20 Jan '14The final programme in the series recorded in the Natural History Museum in London. Four experts from different fields chose an object that symbolises our relationship with nature.
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Folge vom 16.01.2015The Diaries of Brett Westwood: Canal - 16 Jan '15When Brett Westwood began a wildlife diary at the age of 15, little did he think that he'd still be writing notes, nearly 40 years later about the same local patch in North Worcestershire. The River Stour has its source in the industrial Black Country and flows through Brett's local patch on its way to the Severn, about 9 miles away. Today, although it is polluted, the river is far clearer than in years gone by, thanks to rigorous controls on pollutants. With their absence, fish have returned and damselflies such as the white-legged damsel which is sensitive to pollution, skim across the surface.
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Folge vom 15.01.2015The Diaries of Brett Westwood: Woodland - 15 Jan '15When Brett Westwood began a wildlife diary at the age of 15, little did he think that he'd still be writing notes, nearly 40 years later about the same local patch in North Worcestershire. Fairy Glen is a small natural woodland in Brett's patch carpeted with bluebells in spring. This was once oak has become a sycamore wood. However it's now a great place to spot warblers; chaffinches and bramblings feeding on aphids in spring, and during his visit Brett watches a pair of Nuthatches bringing back food for their young to their nest hole in the trunk of a tree.