Masses of Roach, with Perch, Bitterlings, Silver Bream, Bleak and Rudd, all enjoying Burwell Lode

In the August sunshine, teeming shoals of Common Roach (Rutilus rutilus) share the chalk-spring-fed waters of Burwell Lode, Cambridgeshire, downstream of the Cock-up Bridge, with Common Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus), European Perch (Perca fluviatilis), European Bitterling (Rhodeus amarus, invasive aliens), Silver Bream (Blicca bjoerkna) and, near the surface, slim Bleak (Alburnus alburnus). They are relaxed, some hanging vertically, I know not why. They also like to hide under the blankets of green algae. The rather excessive growth of green algae (perhaps Blanketweed Cladophora glomerata) likely reflects eutrophication, perhaps from upstream agriculture and/or waste from Burwell, but there are also so some lovely macrophytes (aquatic plants) including Fennel Pondweed (Stuckenia pectinata), then an algae sheathed forest of Arrowhead (Sagittaria sagittifolia) & Whorled Water-Milfoil (Myriophyllum verticillatum) followed by the cabbagey leaves of Yellow Water-Lily (Nuphar lutea) and stands of delicate Fan-leaved Water-Crowfoot (Ranunculus circinatus). As I swim into the descending sun, it gilds the algae filaments floating in the water column. At the end a Black-headed Gull flies along the Lode towards me, one of many from the nearby breeding colonies adjacent to Wicken Fen eg on Burwell Fen. (11 August 2026 GX012019-21 25 22)