The month started with good settled weather for the first week, and a river level was slowly dropping back.
Things soon changed again with gales, heavy rain at times and a fair bit of spate coming back down the system. There has been a variety of jobs undertaken this month, with our annual litter pick along the river banks taking up a fair bit of our time. It is a worthwhile job and the environment always looks the better for it.
Another job that we spent a lot of time on was more planting, with a new hedgerow going in at one location and some more areas getting a bit more added to them. We have managed to get nearly three thousand shrubs/trees into the ground this month and we still have about another thousand to go before the spades get a rest!
This has included a mixture of Hawthorn, Spindle, Blackthorn, Hazel, Dogrose, Burnetrose, Hornbeam, Seabuckthorn, Black Chokeberry, Berberis, Crab Apple, Gean, Dogwood, Cotoneaster, Birdcherry, Alder Buckthorn, and also some Budleah`s and Honeysuckle. Once it is all established it should make a good impact on the bio-diversity of the area as well as adding a bit of colour at times when all the blossoms come out. The last week of the month saw the weather improve again and the river level dropping as the spate eased off. We were down to minus 5⁰C on the 24th but it was warmer during the day when the sun got up. We saw our first Butterfly of the month on the 26th (a Peacock).
There is a bit more colour about the place now with the Fritillary coming through in places and the Wild Primroses are beginning to show up along the river banks now.
We are seeing a few more Curlews about now, and the Oyster Catchers and Lapwings are back along the foreshore of the river now that the farmers are back working in the fields. We have had a couple of Partridge about for the last couple of weeks, and a lot of the smaller birds are showing an interest in the nest boxes that are dotted around the place. On one of the wetter days we spent a bit of time making up more brood bars for using up at one of our bee hives, where we are hoping to have a go at splitting a hive next month. With some help and good weather hopefully we will manage it.
We did get out for a trip on the river on the 26th with Jim Findlay (Tay Master Plan) and Jim Purvis (Bio Mass Fuels).
The weather was kind that day and we had a good run down past Mugdrum Island looking at the reed beds, willows and driftwood that fill up the foreshore. There were a few Shell Duck down there and Hundreds of Geese out on the water.
At the top end of the estuary the Willowgate fishery has seen a few more fishers in about with the better weather, and there have been great catches reported. The Café is really making a name for it’s self with homemade soups, tray bakes, scones and home baked cakes all going down well. Fishery and Cafe open Wednesday – Sunday 9am – 5pm. There have been a few spring salmon caught up on our Cargill rod beat recently now that the river is settling back down again. Rods still available for Spring and Summer Salmon Fishing
Hopefully this weather will continue into April!