The first real warmth of Spring today 23c. Down Twiston and Ings beck the Ramsons and the Bluebells are at their best, this valley is one of my favourite haunts being only a few miles from where I live. Most of the spring flowers are at their best but that isn't the main reason for our visit.(If you followed my earlier posts last year around late October and November we made several visits to see if we could see the salmon spawning . We were successful and I managed to record the events both with video and still photos but the image quality was far from satisfactory) Today the beck is running low and clear and by creeping up to the side of the beck we could see dozens of newly hatched Salmon Fry (baby salmon) in the shallow running water at the sides of the beck.These small fry are between 3/4 and 1 inch long and are very difficult to photograph because of their wary nature, but by crouching down and remaining still a few did come into camera range and I eventually had a bit of limited success with my fairly basic camera. The small Fry already have the early markings of the next stage of growth, they will develop into Salmon Parr during the next 12 months and after 2-3 years they will change into Smolt and make their way back down the beck and then finally into the sea. After a few years they will return to the river of their birth to spawn and the whole cycle starts all over again.
I bet it's nice not to have to wear coats! I thoroughly enjoy visiting your blog, David. Thank you for sharing your part of the world.
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