A Nice Little Burn

This little burn enters the main stem of the Lyon below the dam, and is therefore accessible to fish of all species. It is a nice width and has good little pockets of spawning gravel, but is badly eroded, and the vegetation is grazed right down. In the upper half of the Lyon, the water comes from the bottom of the loch, is colder than what it should be, and TDSFB studies have shown that this has a profound impact on the growth of juvenile fish. These smaller burns are unaffected by such impacts from the dam, and are therefore proportionately more important than their size might dictate. Many of the 1000 miles of watercourses we are looking at are small like this, and are often easily discounted. But on the Lyon, because of factors beyond our control, these little burns are important, and we should be looking after them. They will provide fish with a more sympathetic habitat than the main river because the water temperature here will be more normal. This "dam effect" extends for about 15 km down the river.