Virtual Field Trips
Dell Quay to Fishbourne
7. Stream
Fishbourne is a wonderful place to come and explore life in a freshwater stream, especially as it is possible to wade in the stream with wellies on and use nets to catch the creatures!
Tray of catches
Tray of catches
The creatures that have been caught can be placed in a tray of water and identification sheets used to name them. The colourful wellies must make the creatures think some interesting food has turned up!
Bend in stream
Stream and Rivers
Fishbourne stream is a good place to study the features of rivers on a small scale.
To find out more about rivers fieldwork, click here
The stream rises from the chalk downs to the north of Chichester and flows into the harbour a short distance away. At high tide sea water flows into the stream, mixing salt water with the fresh water already in the stream.
An eel
A flounder
Animals in the Stream
Some fish that normally live in the sea such as eels and flounders swim into the stream at high tide to lay their eggs
because the stream provides a sheltered place for their babies to grow up. Baby eels swim up the stream from the sea. They eat snails and tadpoles. When eels grow up they swim all the way to the middle of the ocean to lay their eggs.
To find out more about freshwater streams and what lives in them, click here.
Stickleback
Water cress
The flowing stream
The stream is quite fast flowing in the middle over a bed of small stones but at the sides the water generally flows more slowly and plants are able to grow without being washed away. The plants are an important source of food for plant eaters such as freshwater shrimps and provide shelter for many fish and other creatures such as sticklebacks. Watercress grows at the waters edge. It likes to grow in flowing water and was once grown here and sold to be eaten in salads.
To find out more about freshwater shrimps, click here
To find out more about watercress, click here
Can you spot the water vole in this photo?
Water Voles
The stream and meadow are home to the water vole. Water voles used to be common but they are now rare. They need clean, undisturbed lowland streams with banks to make burrows and plenty of grass and other waterside plants to eat. The Conservancy manages the meadow and stream to provide a good habitat for them.
To find out more about watervoles, click here.
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