Redd Survey Training

Help monitor brown trout on the Chess by counting redds!

This winter the Chess Smarter Water Catchment partnership are running redd surveys to monitor our brown trout population, and we need your help!

'Redds' are spawning nests made by female brown trout in gravel bed rivers, creating a clear scrape to lay eggs. The counting of redds is a great technique to infer the health of the breeding brown trout population.

The surveys will involve walking a stretch of the river and doing a visual check from the banks to record all of the redds that you see.

This training day is delivered by Martin Van Heerden from the Environment Agency, teaching redd ID and field skills. Paul Jennings, River Chess Association, and Iona McMillan, Chilterns Chalk Streams Project, will provide instruction on the survey plans for the Chess.

What to expect on the day:

9.30 - Arrival, teas and coffees

9.45-10.45 - Indoor Classroom - Presentation on Redd ID and Surveys

10.45-12.00 - Fieldwork - Practise Redd Surveys out on the River Chess

What the survey involves going forward:

Visiting the stretch of the River Chess assigned to you to conduct the redd surveys in the field, and submitting your data as instructed.

Ideally, you will visit fortnightly across the breeding period (November-January), to record the appearance of new redds. If this is not feasible, a couple of visits in peak breeding period is still useful.

Meeting location:

Location
Restore Hope Latimer Latimer Park
Latimer, Chesham
Buckinghamshire
HP5 1TU

There is free parking available.

We will meet in the Old Dairy room - if you turn right upon entering the drive of Restore Hope, the Old Dairy is round at the back of the car park. Please see the below map.

W3W: ///blank.jabs.simple

What to bring:

Sturdy footwear

Weather suited clothes e.g. raincoats, layers

Pen and notepad

Charged phone - you may need this for conducting surveys

Contact us

If you have any questions about the day or the surveys, please email us at chesscs@chilterns.org.uk