Looking at this small river in the Boyne catchment, you notice a flowering. The water, for some weeks had been low, and generally clear, though there is a milky or chalky touch on some days. But, for the first time since the drainage of a decade and a half ago, the ranunculus is blooming more than it has done for all those years. Not what it was, but welcome in its long, slow recovery. Yet no solace for the young, and not so young, who used to swim in the long, deep pools in other days. The pools are gone. What remains would not tempt you.
Anyway, enjoy the bird life, and especially be thankful for the most brilliant sight of the season - three king fishers perched on a willow branch just a foot above water level. Even the short sighted one had to notice the trio - like flashing precious stones, he said (was it emerald or turquoise?), clearly visible as a shaft of sunlight pierced the shadows under the tree. Then flycatchers pirouetting among the masses of flies over the water. Something to offset the rather gloomy conclusion you draw from the Department of the Environment: "At present many farms have soil phosphorous levels sufficient to sustain output without further applications of phosphorous from fertilisers or farm wastes, such as slurries, over a period of years.
Higher levels significantly in excess of crop requirements are found in many farms, and these pose an unacceptable threat to the maintenance of water quality.
And the report goes on: "studies show that farmers could reduce purchases of phosphorous chemical fertilisers by £25 million annually without implications for production, while simultaneously reducing the risk of eutrophication of rivers and lakes." Good advice, you'd think. But remember, farmers aren't the only polluters. Sewage, industrial discharges. What about pleasure boats on the Shannon? It's a long, long story. We are not the worst, but we do base our tourist appeal largely on unspoilt Ireland.
(The quotations are from Managing Ireland's Rivers and Lakes, Dept of the Environment).