Sea Trout

Now, there's something you do see (dead or alive) every day, a Sea Trout (Salmo trutta). They're here every year and in great numbers it's reckoned, though they're not frequently seen, which is quite a wonder at their size and the shallow nature of the streams they frequent.  When autumn turns to winter the Sea Trout return to the gravelly shallows towards the heads of the streams in which they were spawn, in order to spawn themselves. This one had entered the forest from the Solent via Lymington and had made it right up into the high reaches of Highland Water. Sadly this good sized 50cm long trout lay, part eaten, on an exposed gravel bed adjacent to a very narrow channel, not that much bigger than the trout, and no doubt were it was caught.  It had been recently too, the blood was still wet and it looked very fresh. I may even have disturbed whatever had caught it with my approach. I wonder if it had spawned or not? It's amazing to think these tiny forest headwaters have fish of this size in them, and a good indicator of the forests well-being, maybe.