Welcome to the Summer 2022 Newsletter!
News, events and more from the Westcountry Rivers Trust citizen science investigation.
#WestcountryCSI
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Have you joined our Facebook page yet? It is a great place to share thoughts, stories and pictures about your local river. You may even discover who else samples in your catchment.
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The scorecards are now LIVE on the CSI webpage or click on the above photo.
We are still working on a few of them so if there is a blank waterbody the scorecards will be appearing soon! Remember that we need 12 or more samples in each waterbody to ensure the analysis is robust.
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CSI Group Profile.....
Friends of Luxulyan Valley
The Friends of Luxulyan Valley joined Westcountry CSI in February 2020 after successfully monitoring Otter populations on the river Par.
Lydia went down to Luxulyan to run a training with the group, after which there was no stopping them!
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They are particularly good at getting a monthly surveys in and Roger (their co-ordinator) produces an excellent report of their findings. He has kindly agreed to have his latest version shared, so do take a look here.
The group have also been the first to experiment with bacteria kits, thanks for being our dummies guys!
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We would love to hear from you if you would like to share your CSI story, please let us know at csi@wrt.org.uk.
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Wildlife Watch...Beaver
Beaver's were hunted to extinction in the UK about 400 years ago but now they are back! They are true engineers of our waterways, creating wetlands and slowing the flow of our rivers.
They are shy creatures, preferring to spend their time in the water or in their lodges which are often built into the banks of the river or sometimes built above the strand line out of sticks and soil.
As Britain’s largest rodent, they are distinctive but shy so not easy to spot!
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Picture curtesy of The Wildlife Trust
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Have you tried our Westcountry CSI quiz?
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Did you know that there is a whole page on the Westcountry Rivers Trust website dedicated to fun river themed activities for kids (and adults!)?
Make your own Water Cycle.
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Best practice for....A consistent grid reference
One thing that is very apparent when analysing the CSI data for the yearly scorecards is a fair bit of inconsistency with the national grid reference. When we are surveying in the same spot each time, it is important to use the same grid reference and only change it when we take a sample from a different spot (worth changing the location name too in that case) here are two easy solutions to this:
- Note down the grid reference and input that each time into the box below the map.
- Use the copy survey button which can be found at the top of your old survey. This can only be used once you have one survey logged. Not only does it save time by creating a new form with all the essential info copied across, but it also means you get a consistent grid reference!
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This quarter we have been out and about in Devon, training Killerton National Trust rangers and volunteers, Flete Field Lab and running a fun session for Tavy Youth Cafe.
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Blue Green Algae
With summer upon us, our slow moving rivers, lakes and reservoirs can be affected by a bacteria known as Blue Green Algae.
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If there is excessive growth this can lead to toxins being produced which can be dangerous for animals and humans
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Make sure you go and check out the Westcountry Rivers Trust Youtube Channel for lots of great videos, webinars and vlogs.
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THANK YOU
As ever we really appreciate the time and effort that is put into Westcountry CSI by all of you. Keep up the great work and keep on spreading the word about our water environments!
Sign up to our Westcountry Rivers Trust newsletter to hear more from the wider trust.
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