With spikey fins and tail, for most of the year male and female sticklebacks are similar in looks.  During the spawning season however, the male develops a bright red underside and piercing blue eyes and the female becomes plump and silvery.  Spawning occurs from May to June in a nest of vegetation which is attended by the male.

Sticklebacks are indigenous and tolerant of all water types including saltwater and may grow up to 4 to 5cm on a diet of various invertebrates.

One of the smallest river fish found widely in UK waters.  Since they are a tasty snack for most larger predators, minnows are fast swimmers and experts at hiding.  Minnows have an olive green body with a black stripe along each side.  With slightly up-turned mouths they feed on plant matter and small invertebrates.

A feisty fish with a spiny dorsal fin with  black stripes on a green-brown body.  Perch can be found in most UK waters and can  grow up to 20 to 30cm and weigh over 6lbs. They will feed on a diet of aquatic invertebrates and small fish. Spawning takes place April to June.

Indigenous and requiring clean well oxygenated water with suitable gravel spawning beds, brown trout can grow up to 50cm on a diet of aquatic invertebrates and flies taken at the surface. Spawning occurs between January and March in the gravelly beds of the river. Successful spawning may be reduced in rivers where sediments build up. A highly successful project to improve the gravel spawning beds in a river near Wellow has recently been carried out by the The Wild Trout Trust in conjunction with the Environment Agency. At the completion of the project the brown trout population had increased by 300 fold. Bybrook Conservation aims to link up with this project with a view to improving the brown trout population in the Bybrook.

Lowland river meadows and marshes, damp woodlands and gardens are some of the many habitats for the common frog. They come in a variety colours and markings and can be distinguished by their long back legs and hopping motion. Frog spawn is laid in still water in large clumps, unlike toad eggs which tend to be laid in long thin strings.

Toads spend most of their time in marshes, woodland, heathland and gardens where there is access to pools and ponds. They feed on slugs and snails and other insects, moving (often in vast migrations) to water to lay their eggs.

Toads have an olive green gnarly skin and tend to walk rather than hop like frogs.