Devonshire's East Devon digital magazine November December 2018

continued from page 15
Th e C O U N T R Y M A N
planted these trees some 20 years
ago, this is so disheartening and
even more so to have to replant.
Easily rectified! Just get down and
finish laying the boundary hedge
this winter, this may stop intruders
next apple harvest season.
I now try to lay sections of hedge on
a 10-year rotation. This is slightly
quicker than most, however, I
do so for a very good reason; a
huge sense for satisfaction and
achievement once completed. Also,
the by-products are essential. Last
year’s produced bushy hazel pea
footing without making a noise and
announcing their presence to all.
Some 10 years ago, when in the
veg patch mid-November, my
attention was drawn to a lot of
splashing and water disturbance
on the River Bray some 80 metres
away. I paid little or no attention at
first assuming the local mallards
were in some form of dispute. As
it endured for several minutes
I heeded more notice and soon
released it was spawning salmon.
Though I still have never seen this
at close hand, I watched from afar
The importance of apple trees in your garden,
and indeed, winter feeding for birds when they really need it.
best gravels on all the Taw system
and that’s why it is thought to be
the best spawning tributary of the
river Taw. The drought of this last
summer has meant salmon and sea
trout fishing on all Devon’s rivers
has been particularly bad. On the
Mole, the worst I can remember,
very few salmon have been caught,
so we have little or no indication
of the salmon population in the
rivers this year. Thus, the only way
fishermen have any idea of salmon
stocks is by locating and counting
the redds. This is not easy, last
year the river Bray was often too
high and the water too coloured
to even see the base of the river,
however, if the water has the right
clarity then the gravel disturbance
can be easily noticed. So, if a crisp
November riverside walk takes
your fancy this autumn, keep an
eye out for these redds and get a
glimpse of the part of the salmon’s
life cycle that occurs in our rivers.
Wildlife encounters such as
seeing the salmon spawning or
just finding evidence of their
presence, even hearing or, better
still, seeing the last of the red
deer rut in early November are
so rewarding. The effort to get
out on often not the most pleasant
days of the year should be part of
all the lives of those that live in
this county. To that end, I try to
provide a few photos of some of
the exhilarating encounters I have
had recently. One of the best was
watching an adult peregrine with
prey in its talons teasing it’s young
away from the security of their
nesting site. I witnessed this along
the cliffs between Combe Martin
and Watermouth in September
unfortunately, I didn’t bring the
camera out in my very small kayak!
In the constant pursuits of photos
of close encounters none could
have been better than my latest. It
was the last week in October and
this article had to go to press and
I needed more photos. Luck was
on my side! Off to the moor on a
cloudy, still warm afternoon, surely
something of interest would show
up. I was expecting a really special
stag or better still, two big boys
with antlers locked… it wasn’t to
be. However sat on a lichen covered
and weather old fence post, I came
across the most obliging short
eared owl some 15 metres from
where I was and here is the last and
best photo (page14). Christopher.
sticks, slightly bent hazel runner
bean poles, and plenty of small
ash for kindling for the wood
burner. I get a great pleasure
of seeing the hedge stock proof.
Once completed, the interlocked
branches provide sheltered
nest-sights for many birds and
the red deer don’t like climbing
through the tightly interwoven
laid branches. I suppose it is
difficult to find sound footing on
the top of the banks and it must
be almost impossible to get a firm
and enjoyed the rest from forking
over the soil. November is the best
month to see the female salmon
cut a redd, which is to loosen an
area of river bed gravel, forming a
shallow depression in the fist-sized
gravelled areas close to the tails
of pools where the water flow is
even. This requires a lot of effort
on their behalf. Once done, the
male or cook fish releases his
milt to fertilize the eggs which
then stick to the stones ready to
develop. The river Bray has the
60
Countryside, History, Walks, the Arts, Events & all things Devon at: DEVONSHIRE magazine.co.uk