The stubborn fingers of the icy grip of winter have finally been prised from the valley and the Tarn is slowly returning to its normal fluid state.  It's been a month now since we saw much grass and the local rabbit population has been much in evidence around the house looking for those illusive bits of greenery exposed by the relative warmth from the buildings.

The river which had been down to summer drought levels was in spate yesterday.  Nothing too severe and not enough to pose any serious risk to the trout redds that we hope are now full of ova, but enough to clear the ice flows and debris that filled the back eddys and quieter beats.  It seems that we may be in for a warmer spell over he next week or so before a return to colder conditions with more snow.

A look at the crayfish in the hatchery yesterday revealed not a single animal lost over the past month which is remarkable.  In fact most of the females are now carrying eggs and barring any unforseen disaster this rescued population should return safely to their south Yorkshire home in the spring.

I am determined to do an invertebrate check this week. It's a couple of months since the last one was done which is far too long, but too much water in November and far too much snow in December prevented me from safely getting to the check sites.  It will be interesting to see what effect if any this icy weather has had on the riverfly population.  Strangely there were flies dancing in a brief sunny interlude this morning in the back garden.

Ian