Your wild autumn
Enjoying the best of the season’s wildlife in Cumbria DON’T MISS Atlantic salmon
A leaping Atlantic salmon is one of those classic wildlife spectacles that stirs feelings of awe and respect – and now’s the time to encounter it. After spending years at sea feeding in the rich waters off Greenland and Iceland, this amazing fish undertakes a remarkable journey back to the river or stream in which it hatched, in order to breed. During this time the salmon travels upstream, swimming against the current, in a battle of endurance, launching itself over weirs and waterfalls – sometimes several metres high – to reach its gravelly breeding ground. Spawning commences with the female using her tail to dig a shallow nest in the riverbed, called a ‘redd’, into which thousands of eggs are laid that are immediately fertilised by a male. After covering the eggs with gravel, the adults leave, exhausted and emaciated. Although some survive and make their way back out to sea at a more relaxed pace, many will die soon after breeding.
QUICK FACTS
Species name: Salmo salar. When to see: year-round (migration October–February). Length: 1.2m–1.5m. Weight: up to 40kg. Family: salmon. Conservation status: classified as a Priority Species under the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework. Places to see in Cumbria:
• Force Falls at Sedgwick (River Kent). • Te waterfalls at Backbarrow (River Leven). • Te riverbank walk near Maulds Meaburn (River Lyvennet).
DID YOU KNOW? It’s estimated that only around 10% of salmon survive their mammoth migration.
4 Cumbrian Wildlife | November 2025
© ROB JORDAN/2020VISION
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