THE BASINGSTOKE EXCURSION

On the 4th September a number of Queketts gathered in the Pirbright Village Hall, Surrey, for an excursion to the Basingstoke Canal - a Site of Special Scientific Interest. This was ably organised by Ken Jones, with the assistance of Peter Birksort, the Ranger.

After refreshments we set off for the Canal itself, an idyllic and beautiful spot:

It was a glorious day, one of several we've had this early Autumn, and members soon had their nets out and began dipping:

Seen here is Tony Jarratt in the foreground with Eric Hollowday at work.

It was good to see Eric (Mr Rotifer) back at an excursion, as due to health problems we have not seen much of him lately. His encyclopaedic knowledge of aquatic life was to prove most useful during the day.

One of the most original variations on the regular dipping methods was that of James Rider, who used a fly fishing technique to cast his tow net into the middle of the Canal!

Original and effective!

The Ranger, Peter Birkstort had kindly arranged a table outside his cottage, complete with a mains extension lead, where members were able to set up microscopes and examine their catch:

On the left is the table we used, while above, Ken shows my wife, Lesley, some of our catch.


When everybody had enough material we went back to the Village Hall, where we were able to examine what we had in more settled conditions.

Harry Shapley had the ideal setup: a high quality monitor fed by a video camera mounted on the trinocular tube of his microscope. This enabled a number of people to gather round and discuss a particular find.

Harry himself is on the left, with Eric Hollowday and Maurice Moss looking on.



Maurice Moss, seen here with his stereo microscope, soon found the colonial monad Dinobryon - it looks like a branched plant, but it's an animal! - and the planktonic diatom, Asterionella, in his sample.

 

 

 

Phil Greaves, left, found a number of water fleas in his sample, and managed to key out this chydorid - Acroperus harpae.


Ken Jones and James Rider (right) discuss James' useful photomicrographic outfit. James found this shell of the amoeboid Arcella in his samples. Imagine the Millennium Dome, looking at it from above with a circular hole in the bottom. The amoeba lives in the dome, and extends its pseudopodia through the hole underneath.

As a rotifer enthusiast I was delighted that several species were found:

 Conochilus is a colonial, but free floating planktonic species, which is a little unusual. Most colonial species are sessile; attached to a plant or twig. If you look carefully you can see that each individual is attached by its toe to the rest, forming a globe-like colony.

At the other end of the spectrum so to speak, is the tube dwelling Limnias, which has made a tube formed by mucus and debris which has adhered to it. This one was eventually persuaded to stick its head out of its tube and extend its corona of cilia, which generate water currents which carry its food into its mouth.


Finally after tea and biscuits the party dispersed. And so ended a most enjoyable day, thanks to the efforts of Ken Jones, with the help of the Ranger, Peter Bikstort.

Our grateful thanks to both!