Environmental Statement volume 4 - Chiltern Evergreen3

Chiltern Line, Oxford - Bicester August 2009Otter and Water Vole Reportitself. Whilst the Langfo rd Lane road b ridge 250 metres below this had no Otter field si gnsunder the box culvert bridge that contained an 80 centimetre high weir.3.16 Gagle Brook: T his small tributary of t he Langford Stream is less than 2 metres wide withnatural soil banks, dominated by herbs and tall grasses with abundant areas of Water Cress,Water Mint, Forg et-me-Not and Re ed Cana ry Gra ss. Thi s is excellent hab itat for Wate rVoles, but no evidence of their p resence was recorded. The bri dge under the line had 4 lowarches, 2 with water i n at the time of survey. Bad ger and deer prints indicated the dry oneswere used by these mammals, while 4 old spraints were found on the downstream side of thebridge. The stretch to the confluence was not surveyed as access was not provided.3.17 Gallos Brook: This small broo k ha s 2 cha nnels that are crossed by the line, the origina l(north-western one) b eing dry at the time of survey. It is scru b lined along the entire surveylength (500 metres either side of line crossing) and had signs of deer and Badger using it as apath. The bridge is formed by two 1 metre diameter concrete pipes going under the line.3.18 The second, much straighter channel appears to be man-made and accepts most of the flowfrom the brook. The shallow 2 metre wide channel has a Hawthorn hedge running along itsleft bank, with tall herbs and grasses on its right bank upstream of the bridge crossing. Belowthis crossing it is li ned by hed gerow on both banks. Sig nal crayfish we re observedthroughout, and Otter spra ints were recorded under the 3 metre brick built box-bridge, beingmade up entirely of Crayfish, with the remains of 2 also found under the bridge.3.19 Mill Farm Stream: Thi s small st ream was surveyed for 500 metres up stream of the railcrossing, but not down to its confluence with the River Cherwell due to landowner permissionnot bein g p rovided. T he left ban k i s a Hawth orn hed ge with Elder, Dog Rose, Ivy an dBittersweet, while the right bank is a 1-2 metre grassy margin of an arable field. It has a goodamount of lu sh vegetatio n, such as Water St arwort sp., Wate r Mint, Water Parsnip, Wat erCress, Water Forget-me-Not, Branched Burr Reed, Common Nettle, Great Willowherb, ReedCanary G rass, Mare’s Tail, Field Bin dweed, Dandelion, Bu rdock, Cree ping Thi stle an dAngelica. Despite this lu sh vegetation with suitabl e banks no signs of Wat er Voles werefound. The bridging point is a brick-lin ed culvert with no ledg es for sprainting on and n onewere found elsewhere on this stream.3.20 River Cherwell: The Riv er Cherwell i s a majo r Tri butary of the River Th ames, which iscrossed by the rail line im mediately upstream of its confluence with the Mill Farm Stream andthen its confluence with the River Ray.3.21 The river, at t he point that the Railway li ne crosses, is over 10 metres wide with a slow flowand a variety of steep and near vertical earth banks with occasional shallower areas providingareas of de nse emergent vegetation, i n the form o f Ree d Cana ry Grass, Co mmon Reed,Common Nettle, Bind Weed, Purple L oosestrife, bittersweet an d Bramble, with stan ds ofWhite Willow and white poplar, interspersed by occasional Hawthorn. The main channel hasWater Crowfoot and B ranched Burr Re ed in it, but turbidity was t oo high to se e deeper intothe water. There are a couple of riffles along this stretch but the remainder is deep and slowflowing.3.22 Field Vole droppin gs were found, but no Wate r Vole sign s. Two fresh Otte r spraints werefound on the saddle of trees upstream of the viaduct and 2 old spraints were found under theKeystone Environmental 7