The rivers are quiet.

I keep getting reports of fish movement upstream but I haven’t had the luck to spot anything yet. Since the records came in the rivers have dropped again. Even though there’s been a day of rain it has only just made the dizzy heights of light drizzle and the river is stubbornly refusing to respond. I went down to Aysgarth Falls late afternoon on Sunday but the water was so low nothing would have made the attempt. A heron and a few mallard ducks sat above the upper falls and that was about all. The electro-fishing kit is in store for the year and my sampling nets are only going to get another day or so. Things in the rivers seem quiet and there is just the spawning to come and then it will be a matter of waiting for spring before I can start serious river surveys again.

Plenty to do in the meantime so boredom won’t be a factor. Down to Cornwall next week to learn about a farm survey method called PINPOINT that the river trusts and Natural England have organised. This aims to help identify where the sources of diffuse pollution on a farm are. It should help farmers meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive, may even save some money. Then there are lots of farm surveys to carry out before I take three weeks leave. The plan is to lock myself away on Islay and get on with writing up the project I’ve been working on for the past three years. I’m hoping it will be miserable forcing me to sit in and get on with it...it would be just my luck for unseasonal sun!