Salmon Leaping at Stainforth Force
October 11, 2012
Here’s a blog post from Sarah – a member of the marketing and fundraising team here at YDMT…
Earlier this week I took advantage of the lovely weather and headed to Stainforth Force (on the River Ribble between Stainforth and Little Stainforth, just north of Settle) in the hope of catching a glimpse of one of the most magical wildlife spectacles of the year… the adult salmon attempting to leap up the three-tier waterfall at Stainforth on their route upstream to spawn.
I’d heard that there had been sightings here over the last week or so, and sure enough when we arrived there was a small crowd gathered just off the footpath, many with cameras at the ready, trained on the water.
Because of all the rain we’ve had in the last few weeks, the Force was impressive in its own right. But all the churning and frothing of the water meant that we had no warning of when a salmon might leap from the water in its attempt to jump the waterfalls.
I watched the swirling water for about 15 minutes, and during this time I witnessed four salmon attempting (unsuccessfully!) to leap up the first tier of the waterfall.
Salmon Leaping at Stainforth Force
If you’re in the area in the next week or so, I’d highly recommend a walk along this stretch of the Ribble Way to see if you can catch a glimpse of these aerial acrobatics. The spectacle doesn’t last for long – often just a couple of weeks – so you’ll need to hurry.
…Unfortunately this means that the chances of us seeing the salmon at Stainforth Force on the YDMT guided walk on 1st November are looking slim (we’ll just have to hope for a glimpse of some late-comers!). However, the scenery we’ll pass through on our walk is sure to be very attractive – hopefully with some lovely autumnal colours in the trees, so we hope you’ll join us none-the-less!
It’s not too late to book – visit our website for full details of the walk: http://www.ydmt.org/get-involved-details-ydmt-autumn-supporter-walk-13473
