It's been a quiet rather non descript week with not much happening.  The Tarn is still frozen making this the longest period without open water that I can recall.  It does have the benefit of deterring the cormorants which have been absent all winter so far, but it also prevents other more welcome wildlife from frequenting the area and visits to Tarn pasture are now typified by the almost total absence of anything living.  The river on the other hand is alive with duck and gulls and the absence of spates so far this winter has resulted in a more settled population of creatures in the river and on the banks.

Once again it's a frosty start to the day with the ground giving off a "crunch" as you walk the pastures.  The snowdrops here are now in full bud and should break within a week or so.  These diminutive flowers are the first signs that spring is returning to the Dales and they seem to thrive here multiplying year on year to carpet any ground once a handful of bulbs are set.

Yesterday I was reading an article on a website that reported strong evidence of the complex relationship between what we call sea and brown trout.  It would seem that observation is suggesting that there is regular switching by individuals between a migratory and non migratory state.  So for example a male returning from the sea may for reasons that are as yet not understood "revert" (if that's the right word to use) to brown trout state as may a female.  Clearly something triggers this action and my suspicion is that it's food related.  Most creatures instinctively opt for a regime of minimal energy expenditure for maximum energy input so it makes no sense for a trout to migrate down river expending energy when there are plentiful food sources available close at fin.  Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are now more sea trout in the upper Ribble than there were last century.  What changed here at the millennium was the disappearance of the river's crayfish that provided a convenient food source for larger trout so it's likely that once they reached a given size more fish began migrating to seek better quality feeding.  There is a PHD's worth of research here for someone.

On the subject of crayfish, don't forget to tune in to Countryfile at 6pm this evening to learn more about the project to get these creatures back into the upper Ribble.

Ian