At the summer event back in June, the pond dipping was great fun as always. My favourite find was this bullhead lurking in the mud. It’s perhaps 7cm long and quite chunky with a great big head, hence the name bullhead, and the alternative name miller’s thumb.
They tend to live at the bottom of fast flowing stony rivers, feeding on invertebrates at dusk. They are very well camouflaged – unless you stick them in a white tray of course.
I went back and got some pictures of the fish, though it’s not easy to do so when they’re small and underwater. These were in the mere itself, right on the edge, next to the far end of the bridge. There was a shoal of about 50 or more.
Also spotted were both male and female bullfinches feeding at the same time. The male is the more colourful of the two, at the bottom.
I had my macro lens so I went hunting for smaller beasties. Here are some that I found. Note the three aphids line astern on the stem above the moth.
