The month began with a very hot day, and this was to be the beginning of a very good spell of weather. Apart from the odd shower and duller day July turned out to be a very good month with sustained hot spells when the mercury was up in the high twenties towards the end.
The local farmers benefited from this, with the combines being out in the fields earlier than they have been for a long time.
The river level was soon down to summer level again as the catchment area dried up.
Along the river banks Swallow and Sand Martin numbers appear to be down on the last year; but we are seeing a lot more goldfinches about, and for all the predation of ducklings along the river there are plenty of young ducks grouping up in some areas now as the summer moves on.
Again this month a lot of our time was spent keeping up with the grass cutting about the riverside, but the growth rate is beginning to slow up at last! We have had our share of breakdowns with our kit this summer, but with some spare parts or a quick bit of welding we were soon up and running again getting back on top of the cutting.
There has been a lot of colour along the river banks this month with a steady succession of wild flowers continuing to appear over the weeks. The Rebbecia and Purple Loosestrife are dominant just now.
but we have also had a good showing of Bellflowers, Blue Monkshood, Foxgloves and Marsh Mallow to name but a few.
There was the odd coaster plying its trade up to Perth harbour again this month on some of the bigger tides, but overall it has been a quiet river for traffic considering the good weather.
Up at the fishery the weed cutting boat has been keeping on top of things, which has helped with the recent catches.
The café has also enjoyed a steady stream of customers who have been enjoying the outdoor experience. The weather did dull down a bit towards the end of the month but it remained dry with the river at summer level.