Environmental Statement volume 4 - Chiltern Evergreen3

Chiltern Line, Oxford - Bicester August 2009Otter and Water Vole Reportleft bank and fenced off gardens on the right. The 30 centimetre banks had abundant nettlesand bindweed, frequent Great Will owherb and Bramble, occasional Dogwood and Hawthornand rarely Crack Willow and Hazel. The channel was full of Water Cress and Water Parsnipand constitutes good Water Vole habitat, but with no evidence of the species present.3.10 Bicester Village Stream: This is a tributary of Langford Stream, running through the modernoutlet village before p assing throug h unmanaged pastu re befo re its confluence with thestream. Either si de of the line, 500 me tres were surveyed, includ ing 200 m etres of a smalltributary upstream of the line. The latter stretch, and the stretch between the line and the A41road crossing both ha d abundant Common Nettle and G reat Willowherb, f requent Fi eldBindweed a nd Cleave rs, occa sional Brambl e, Mea dowsweet a nd Gyp sywort and rarelyCreeping T histle, Te asel, Ho gweed, Hawthorn, Elder and Cra ck Willow. The ch annelsupported some Brooklime and Branched Burr Reed.3.11 The Upper 300 metres runs parallel with Pingle Drive, with mown grass on the right bank andan old he dgerow on the le ft bank. It th en ha s a co nfluence with i ts small trib utary, beforepassing under a roa d bridge where 2 o ld spraints a nd an Otter print were found. The ne xtsection between the road bridge and the Railway line has a footbridge passing over it where 3old spraints were found. The fin al stretch to th e confluence with the L angford Stream wasunmanaged, tall gra ssland with Bran ched Burr Re ed and Water Cress in the channel. Ratburrows and droppings were found here towa rds the confluence point, with Signal Crayfishidentified throughout the channel below the Bicester Village site.3.12 Lower Langford Brook: The Langford Stream is a similar habitat and channel features fromthe A41 road crossing to the n ext rail crossing 500 metres downstream, with the confluencewith the Bicester Village stream at the midway point, as the Bicester Village Stream. The 500metres below the line crossing is mainly shaded by Crack Willow and some Hawthorn, withCommon Ne ttle beneath, plus G reat Willo wherb, Bramble, T easel, Bran ched Burr Ree d,Brooklime and Reed Canary Grass. The river bed was shallow with gravel bars and a seriesof riffles and pools in the 3-4 metre wi de channel. The rig ht bank is arable fi elds, then th emown grass of a garden centre, while the left bank is the Bicester Sewage Treatment Works(STW), operated by Thames Water.3.13 An old Otter spraint and Otter foot prints were found under the Railway Bridge, a 4 metre wideand high brick bridge. Also observed along this 500 metre stretch were a number of rat printsand droppings, deer prints, a Kingfi sher nest 20 metres upstream of the Thames Water siteentrance drive bridge and a sighting of a Muntjac Deer.3.14 The 700 metres below the entrance drive to the STW has a simila r channel structure, with 2metre hig h st eep o r sh eer banks. Ho wever, the le ft bank is m ainly open, with a Tha mesWater Nature Reserve beyond, while the right bank is lined by mature Crack Willow pollards,offering good potential holt sites, interspersed by Hawthorn scrub with pasture beyond. Bothbanks are fenced and grazed.3.15 Signal Crayfish and rat signs continued to be found, but every 150 metres an old Otter spraintwas found o n tree root s, with a rece nt sprai nt at the conflue nce with a sm all stream 2 00metres from the line; 2 old and 1 recent spraint under a track bridge 50 metres before the linewith 1 old spraint and some rat droppings beneath the concrete culvert bridge under the lineKeystone Environmental 6