Country diary: Out with the salmon, in the with bullheads | Sara Hudston

Horner, Somerset: These mottled brown fish can be tricky to spot, lurking as they often do under stones and bridges for safetyExmoor's rivers have been in almost continual spate this winter. Brown with peat, tumbling white over boulders, scouring the underside of bridges, the Exe, Barle and East Lyn have thrashed their way through the darkest months. I was hoping to join one of the surveys counting salmon spawning sites, but it was impossible because the water has been too opaque to see into.From October to the end of January, female Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and sea trout (Salmo trutta) create hollows, or redds, on the riverbed to lay their eggs. In less turbulent weather, these scoops in the gravel show like splashes of sunlight where the dark silt has been cleared. This year the salmon probably still spawned despite the conditions, and it's hoped the results were not swept away. Continue reading...