Few people, even if they are naturalists, see more of the wildlife of our country than those angle
rs who sit quietly by the waterside for hours on end.
Nobody combined the expertise of angling and the knowledge of wildlife better than my old fiend the late Tag Barnes who wrote several books on these subjects including one called "Waterside Companions" which covered the many wild creatures that share the waterside with us.
Some people say that there is more to fishing than just catching fish. True though this is, catching fish must remain our main aim in our hobby.
This does not mean that I do not get a great thrill out of seeing wildlife as I fish.
As a child I was enthralled by the fearsome looking dragon flies that flew over the water, and by the smaller and almost indescribably beautiful damsel flies.
As an adult I have had days made superbly happy because I have seen predatory birds including goshawks and ospreys and eagles hunting.
I have watched those amazing little birds the dippers walking on the bed of streams in search of food and then flying into the air again seemingly quite dry.
And I marvel when I see the same birds fly through powerful waterfalls to get to their nests hidden behind the wall of water.
But unlike many other naturalists it is not birds that thrill me the most but the mammals and water creatures that share my day by the waterside.
I have had a rare polecat swim to my boat and jump into the bows and out again like lightning for example.
And though some say that deer do not drink water but get all their moisture from the plants that they eat I have more than once watched deer drinking from the river at Chatsworth.
Getting back to the birds again, those who tell us that rooks and crows never use fallen twigs for nest building but always break off fresh twigs from trees are not always correct, for I have seen them pick up fallen twigs and weave these into their nests.
As a boy I always had a variety of water creatures in jars of water in my bedroom so that I could watch the beetles, shrimps, water scorpions, newts and tadpoles.
And what more inspiring sight is there than seeing kingfishers fly by, and even on occasions perch on your fishing rod tip?
John Neville
