A glorious autumn

November has been a relatively bright, dry month with the odd wet spell to get the fish moving. So, in between the many meetings that inevitably occur at this time of the year, and the associated paperwork, we've taken the opportunity to get out where we can.

A Christmassy view within Stack Wood

We were asked to re-survey Stack Wood for evidence of deer grazing. The wood was opened to deer

last winter and the Trust undertook a preliminary vegetation survey of he wood. The plan was to repeat the survey the following year and assess the impact. This would then be used to determine the future management of the wood. A bit out of our comfort zone, but an interesting project and one that, given the call for more riparian planting throughout the country, is very relevant to the work of the Trust.

Finding the original sites was interesting to say the least, and involved stumbling around in the wood looking for wooden posts. Much to our surprise, if we're honest, we found 7 out of the 10 - which was great. There was, of course, a fair bit of hilarity as we fell down slopes and rolled in the mud! The results have now been sent to the client and will hopefully provide help with the forestry management throughout the Estate.

An amazing location for a mink raft

The mink rafts also had to be checked so that was another trip around the area. While a couple had been washed away, the rest were fine and thankfully no mink traces seen. There were a decent number of rodent tracks though! As well as checking our own rafts we have a number of volunteers helping to monitor rafts and tunnels throughout the area and we help where we can by supplying materials and advice as asked. Without these individuals it would be impossible to cover the area and we are extremely grateful to each and every one of them. We have to be thankful that we seldom find anything (no mink is good news!) but that can make it harder to keep checking. We think they are all stars.

A redd in situ

Other trips out have been to look for fish and redds. It's really encouraging, given the poor year for
anglers, to see a number of redds in the river and a good number of fish fighting for and holding territories. We haven't been out often, so to see that level of activity each time is great. Reports have also been coming from others of spawning fish - both trout and salmon - being seen in good numbers. Here's hoping for good juvenile densities next year!

We've posted a new video on YouTube showing the salmon moving about in the river. Why not have a look and enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_JvKrWpPjs