But it's frustrating to see him nuzzling up to the very spawned out female who's been guarding her redd since Christmas Eve -- there are no eggs there!
Told there's a spawning pair upstream, I rush to see another new male nuzzling up to another maybe spawned out female. Her tail does not show the weeks of wear of female number 1, but it's white and lacy. Maybe she still has eggs; I hope so.
She certainly has a lot of energy, turning and digging again and again. This isn't dispositive -- females keep tidying the redd until they die. Indeed, the word "redd" comes from the Scottish word that means "to clear an area or keep tidy." So think of an obsessively clean housekeeper sweeping, sweeping, sweeping, when you see a coho female clear the silt from her eggs for the hundredth time.
If the two new males are cozying up to females who may be out of eggs, what do we need? New females! Set up the chant! Fe-males! Fe-males!
There's still hope; it's only one day after the rain...
And just before I leave, there she is, rolling and digging at the parking lot redd. Her tail is perfect, intact; she's fresh and ready to go!!!
Within fifteen minutes, two adult males and a jack are thrashing around her. Back in business!
Barring predation, look for spawning activity at this redd for the next few days.
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