The Salmon have come home to their birthplace

Thurs. 4th Nov.2010
                            Yesterday was a mild and wet autumn day and in the last two weeks autumn seems to have given way to early winter.With all the heavy rain that's fallen the Salmon and Sea Trout have managed to reach the place of their birth in the many small streams high in the Pennines around the Lancashire and Yorkshire border. At the weir on Swanside beck several Salmon and Sea Trout managed to ascend the weir, which has now been made easier with the wood constructed  easement  in place, this enables the fish to rest and shelter in the wooden sheltered bays out of the strong force of the current. Along Twiston and Ings beck many of the gravelly stretches and pools had Salmon and Sea Trout in them and on the fast flowing gravelly stretches fish were paired up and starting to spawn, it's years since I've seen so many fish present on these two small becks
                It's been a privilege to be able to watch these fish spawning at the end of their long journey back from the ocean off the east coast of Greenland and any photos that I've taken don't do justice to the wonderful natural events that are and will be taking place in the next couple of weeks.
          I'm sorry the photos are so poor, the difficult locations, the very low light levels and slow shutter speeds have all been against me, but if you use a bit of imagination and screw up your eyes you will probably see some sort of image.

                                        Swanside beck

                                  The weir at Swanside beck

                           The wood constucted easement fish pass

                                          The shelter bays

                        Salmon resting in one of the sheltered bays

                                                  Ings beck

                                    Spawning in Twiston beck

 

                                              

Waxwings and Salmon

Monday 1st Nov.2010
                         First just a quick mention of our bit of luck of being in the right  place at the right time. On Sat. afternoon on a short walk along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at East Marton near Skipton a flock of about 30 Waxwings landed in an Ash tree just as we were walking passed on the canal towpath. I managed to get a distant photo of them before they flew off to a nearby Hawthorn bush and started to strip the berries. Also on the walk we saw the Kingfisher, 2 Goldcrests and several Long- tailed Tits.

Yesterday on our weekly Sunday walk with our friends we had another stab at  seeing some Salmon.
.The best place to see them is at Stainforth Foss on the River Ribble in Upper Ribblesdale. I never tire of watch them leaping up the falls and I've been visiting this spot for over 50 years. Yesterday was particular pleasant on a quite Autumn day with many of the Autumn colours at their best.

                           The village green.... Langcliffe

                 

                Walking back to the town of Settle on the Ribble Way

Coming up to the spawning season

Tues 26th Oct. 2010
                There could be some good news in the very near future for amateur naturalists like myself. During the past few weeks the final piece of the jigsaw is being completed on Pendle Water in Barrowford, the fish pass will bypass the waterfall weir by the side of the Heritage Centre and allow Salmon and Sea Trout to spawn in the river as far up as Roughlee waterfall.The river system down the Calder valley which includes Pendle Water is cleaner now than it has been for the last 150 years and fish have returned to the river, with the removal of the weir at the site of the old Padiham Power Station and the weir at Quaker Bridge in Brierfield the fish have easy access to most of the river system. With the Salmon spawning season in mind our small hiking party set off on a cold frosty morning last Sunday to explore some of the tributaries of the River Ribble just over the hill in the Ribble Valley to see if there were any Salmon in the streams waiting to spawn. We didn't see any because the water was too low to allow them ascend these small streams but in spite of this we all enjoyed the walk in the crisp autumn sunshine.

                                     Pendle Water in Barrowford

                                      The new fish pass

           Sunday morning ....my garden pond with a thin covering of ice

                        The fish pass on Swan Side Beck

                                              Lunch stop

                              Down Side Lane to Twiston Beck

                    Pendle Hill always dominating the scenery

                                 Fish passes on Twiston Beck

  Back over the hill from Twiston Beck and back to the village of Rimington

                          

Our Northern Heritage

Monday 25 October 2010
                              During the week leading up to the middle of October we showed John and Lindy two friends from London around the countryside in our own county of Lancashire and over the border into Yorkshire. We probably take the countryside in our area for granted  but from the positive comments we received from them and the enjoyment of our days out together  we realize that we are lucky to be surrounded by such beautiful countryside.

                          Lancashire....    down in the Ribble Valley

          On the top of Longridge Fell looking north to the Bowland Fells

                      The River Hodder a tributary of the Ribble

                                Kettlewell in Wharfdale Yorkshire

                          The limestone walls of Upper Wharfedale

                            Walking down into Littondale

                             The River Skirfare in Littondale

                                Stanforth Foss on the River Rible

Still in Yorkshire... the famous Ribblehead viaduct on the Settle to Carlisle railway with the flat summit of Ingleborough in the background

         I though this was amusing .... outside the pub at Ribblehead

                                         Ribblehead station

Nearer home....a visit to John William's  garden on the moor, at present I'm working on the film I shot during the last twelve months

Finally back in Lancashire and the village of Wycoller a local beauty spot made famous with its association with the Bronte Sisters.