Well, that was a rather better week.  We had some real winter weather, cold but sunny with only a light breeze.  It's all gone pear shaped again this morning with a return to wet and windy conditions, but the forecast is promising so it should improve later.  Despite all the wet we have had over the winter it's surprising how quickly the river drops off after a dry week.  It's by no means empty but the flow is still pretty low.  It just goes to show how dependant the Ribble is on a steady supply of rain on the catchment.

Fingers crossed that we can start on the habitat project at Nanny Carr's in a few weeks.  I had an email on Wednesday from Craven College promising a phone call this week to firm up arrangements.  Once all is agreed I can go firm on ordering all the equipment and materials as well as the tree slips and start spending some of the grant money that we have been allocated. 

A walk up the river on Monday showed surprisingly little damage after the recent storm.  The main change is a substantial bank slip just north of Newhouses which has put several tons of rubble and a tree into the river.  Most of this has been carried away on the flood but the resulting scar is quite noticeable.

Water quality really is looking good a present both in the river and the Tarn with a good steady pH just on the alkaline side of neutral, low temperatures and reasonable ORP.  The wind has certainly helped to clear the Tarn by mixing the water horizons and increasing the oxygen saturation so we should go into the new season with a healthy fishery.

I had a letter on Tuesday inviting me to Bradford Royal Infirmary to have the cataract removed from my left eye on 1 February so I should have both eyes working perfectly very soon and no further excuses for not seeing a floating fly.  The down side is that I can't now attend the fish capture day next Saturday, but the IFM tell me that they will be arranging a further demonstration later in the year so hopefully I can get along to that.

No news about hatching eggs at the School, but it shouldn't be too long now before they see some action.

Next week's posting will be late on Sunday as we have an MAA Council meeting in the morning and a visit from a prospective member in the early afternoon.  If there is anything of interest to report from Council I shall post it up in the secure area of this blog.

All the best

Ian