Here it is after seven years and thousands of miles I've finally done it and filmed every species of freshwater fish in Britain. I recommend watching the full film in the link below but I've attached a short version with stills also.
@BBCSpringwatch
Is your pond thick with ice? Best way to make a hole to let oxygen in/out is a saucepan full of hot water and let it melt a hole. Bashing a hole can spook/wake animals up for hibernation and poking a hole could cut the liner so this is a great way to do it and only takes a min.
After 7 years of searching all over Britain I've finally done it, filming every single species of freshwater fish in Britain. I'm quite chuffed to say the least! Thanks to everyone whos helped me along the way!
Watch the reaction film here!
Perhaps the piece of footage I'm most well known for this went viral a few years ago. (type fish in whatsapp gifs it'll come up!) Two grayling spawning which took 4 years of hard work to find the right spot to film it.
Over the next 50 days i'm gonna post an image of every freshwater fish species in Britain starting with this chunky Rudd! Rudd are a cyprinid that prefer stillwaters and have a deep crimson colour to the fins when in clear water. They have an upturned mouth for surface feeding.
I'm starting my
#birdweek
with the trusty old kingfisher a bird I sometimes get a bit numb to seeing so many by riverbanks but they never cease to amaze me with the electric blues and vivid oranges they seem more like a bird of the tropics then british rivers.
#birdphotography
Spent a lovely couple of hours with these shy and secretive birds this morning. Water rails are fairly common but don't often come out into the open so its a treat to see them.
@AlanMcFadyen
@ScotWildlife
@_BTO
@WildlifeTrusts
I've never seen so many lamprey as yesterday! These are river lamprey the rarest of the three species and one of our rarest freshwater fish. I imagine many rivers would of had this site before so many barriers were erected blocking their migration.
#lamprey
#rivers
A recent commission has seen me photographing newts and I got to work with Great Crested Newts which are just BOSS! I've never took the time to really look at one before and they are awesome creatures. This male has a developed crest and breeding colours.
If my followers could do me a huge favour today and share this for me (donate if you can). I'm working on the biggest film project I've ever done on Britain's Hidden Fishes but I need your help to make it happen.
#britainshiddenfishes
#freshwater
#marine
I've just bought my first house and the garden while small has potential a wildlife pond is a given but what else could I squeeze in? A few cats around though my Dacshund pepper will take care of that! Swifts overhead & Purple Emperors in nearby woodland
#wildgarden
#rewildling
#36
European Eel - Eels were once so common that preindustrial revolution they made 50% of all freshwater fish catches fast forward to now and they are crucially endangered.
First sign that spring is properly on its way for has always been the frog chorus in my pond. I've recently moved house so this is my first year with a new pond fingers crossed the frogs turn up!
@ARGroupsUK
@Kate_Bradbury
@froglifers
#frogs
You never know whats going to turn up on the cameras and always a pleasure to get a glimpse of an eel like this one rooting around for food.
#eel
#chalkstream
#underwater
Tonights
@BBCSpringwatch
is going to be a treat (I mean they all are) I'd been pitching the baitball story for 4 years & ended up filming it last year the day after my wedding! It's got camera traps, big trout and thousands of roach what more do you want! 8pm BBC2
#Winterwatch
Some people love mammals, some people love birds, but
@JackPerksPhoto
LOVES fish! He's been chasing fish all over the UK for over seven years and has captured some amazing images. Tune in to
#Springwatch
on
@BBCTwo
now to catch the action!
Rewilding is certainly flavour of the month currently in conservation with beaver fever hitting all over the place but what about some of the less glam species like Atlantic Sturgeon & Burbot (around until the 60's) Some progress is happening but lets hope these fish get a chance
When you see a big perch it has to be one of the most impressive freshwater fish in the UK, full of swagger and attitude. A absolute unit of a fish!
#perch
#underwater
#freshwater
Their are fish & then theirs the grayling it's got to be the best looking fish in British waters. Males have a vibrant dorsal fin with a pallet of colours from kingfisher blues to ruby reds. As you might of guessed they are my favourite fish buts whats yours?
I've got 4 days left to get this film funded with £28,334 of £30,000 so far so I'm nearly near! If you can help its much appreciated or at least give it a share. It's a unique chance to showcase whats living beneath the waterline in Britain. (Link Below)
This small chalkstream brown trout is fairly typical of chalkstream fish with a white piping on the fins, butter gold side and red spots. Brown trout are the most genetically diverse vertebrate in the world coming in hundreds of shapes, colours and sizes
#browntrout
"It's home."
The
#WildIsles
trailer has just dropped—prepare to get emotional. 🥹
Presented by Sir David Attenborough, and co-produced by the RSPB,
@wwf_uk
, and
@OpenUniversity
, this landmark show is unmissable.
Coming soon to
@BBCOne
@BBCiPlayer
📺
#11
Minnow - Perhaps having the best breeding colours of any british fish the humble minnow has a mixture of golds, greens, reds and whites during the spring all to try and attract a mate when spawning over fast flowing gravels.
Narrated by Jeremy Wade, this documentary seeks to explore the marine and freshwater fish of the UK in a 1 hour documentary. Screenings across the UK before TV/online release.
Heres every UK freshwater fish species I've filmed with latin name, family and native status. See how many you know!
Watch the full film here
#freshwaterfish
#underwater
#ukrivers
#31
Brook Lamprey - The smallest and only species of lamprey in the UK thats isn't parasitic and instead filter feeds in silt beds. It's also the one people are most likely to encounter being fairly widespread.
Eels can be very curious and I’ve found many over the years will actually approach me to have a better look at the monkey swimming with them.
#eels
#underwater
#wildlifephotography
#34
Burbot - Although almost certainly extinct in England I'll include burbot in this list as I love them! Only member of the cod family that lives in freshwater the last confirmed specimen was in 1969 but plans are afoot to reintroduce them in the near future!
I've been exploring the underwater world of dragonfly larvae recently and my god they are little mini murder machines. You can see why H.R Giger used them as inspiration for the Xenomorph in Alien. Currently putting a video together of them hunting.
Always a pleasure to be back in Cornwall, I did manage some time rockpooling near the helford. I really must spend a week down here just getting stuck into rockpools!
@CwallWildlife
#35
European Sturgeon - This fish can get truly colossal at weights of over 800lb and 20ft long! Can you imagine that swimming up the Thames or the Trent? Couple hundred years ago they would of! Poor water quality and barriers to migration put a stop to them.
Well today is my 30th so I've headed to Bakewell for a weekend of beer, cake, trout and sausage dogs not necessarily in the order. Have a good weekend everyone!
Today I photographed this handsome chap, I've been after river lamprey for 3 years. bigger then the brook lamprey and smaller then a sea lamprey these fish are quite scarce in Britain. 55 freshwater fish down 2 to go!
#14
Tench - Tench are perfectly designed for life in ponds and lakes. It's rounded fins means it can slowly and methodically move over silty lakebeds without stirring it up to much. Males have curved pelvic fins making them one of the few sexually dimorphic cyprinids.
One of things I love about my job is you can always be surprised at what you film. Here a large pike is scoffing mayflies that are hatching. Despite the small size of the food the amount of them must be worth eating. Amazing!
@BBCSpringwatch
@theriverstrust
@IFMFish
@TheFSBI
This is the first time I've managed to get Cormorants hunting underwater. I never realised they eat fish underwater and use there head like a snakes to "shrike" at fish
I've seen some pretty majestic and wonderful creatures in my time but this has to be fairly near the top of behaviours for me, a farting little grebe underwater.
#13
Barbel - Barbel are perfectly adapted for life in rivers. They have a sloped head so that the water pushes them down in the current making it easier to feed near the bottom and keeping still in fast currents.
#8
Dace - A slim fish that prefers fasting flowing rivers, Dace tend to hang around in shoals and are the earliest spawning Cyprinid gathering over gravels in February.
#9
Chub - The origin of the word chubby comes from these incredibly greedy fish eating everything from autumnal berries, other fish, crayfish and slugs to name a few!
While filming barbel last week, a pike attacked my camera! not sure if the red light attracted it but glad it didn't carry it off!
#pikeattack
#pike
#underwaterfilming
Excited to watch
#wildlsles
tonight having played a minor role in it will be fantastic to finally see British wildlife given the Attenborough treatment! Amazing to see so many others that have also worked on it. Tune in 7pm BBC1 tonight.
#16
Crucian - Preferring small ponds this fish are being bred to extinction in the UK via hybridisation with goldfish and carp similar to scottish wildcats with feral cats.
As an underwater filmmaking in the UK clear water with fish is fast becoming a myth though a few places still have the often over used term "gin clear" like this lovely trout filled stream.
Despite being a photographer I'm often out without my camera so see those "wish I had my camera moments" quite a bit but this time luckily had it with me as this song thrush was plucking worms out from Romney March Visitor Centre last week
@KentWildlife
Recently I've had a commission to photograph eels and went for a dip in the river last week finding this beauty. Shes ready to go back to sea turning a lovely silver colour ready to head back 3,700 miles to the Sargasso.
@EelGroup
@greenleejw
@GlavenEel
#eels
#underwater
So last week I ventured to Belgium to see this rather special fish, the Burbot! This week I'll be posting each day about this freshwater cod that until 1969 called britain's rivers home.
#burbotuk
#rewildling
@Johansviswereld
Never seen so many sea trout as I did yesterday all in the lower reaches of a chalkstream ready to push up this autumn and spawn. Unlike their freshwater cousins brown trout, sea trout stay in shoals for safety, turn silver and grow huge on a diet of marine life.
Minnows are probably one of the most over looked fish in Britain but come the spring time they turn into one of the most colourful. Males develop vivid colours and spots called tubercules which they rub against the females to encourage egg laying.
@BBCSpringwatch
@theriverstrust
Lamprey are 300 million years old and so primordial that we are more closely related to a salmon then they are. These brook lamprey from the spring create a redd and spawn in the gravels.
#7
Bleak - The scales of these small fish were used as a pearl substitute and the cockney pearly kings and queens would of used bleak scales from the Thames. Being surface feeders they are often seen taking flies.
Tomorrow night I'm back on Countryfile (my 11th appearance and 8th Presenting!) and for years I've been trying to get the BBC to do a film on Grayling and they've finally given in to me!
BBC1 6pm
#countryfile
#grayling
European eels fascinate me, they can live up to 80 years, travel over land when needed, change their skull shape depending on diet and live in both fresh and salt water!
#eel
#underwater
#fish
A few highlights from my snorkeling last week, water was nice and clear and encountered this very curious eel! Never had one come so close to have a look at me!