February started with another cold dry frosty day, one of many this month!
It was a colder month over the weeks but we did have a few unseasonably warm days which were appreciated. The bees were quick to venture out of the hives when the temperature picked up for a bit but it did not last long.
A bit of time this month has been spent working up at the fishery catching up on some of the seasonal jobs; where we have been strimming back round the pond edges and giving the islands a good cut, a job we always like to get done before the swans start nesting again.
Another job we started on was cutting back a lot of the sukers that appear about the place, and pruning back a lot of the willows and trees that start to encroach on areas where it affects the casting of the fishermen with their fly rods.
It has been good to see a few fishermen out catching fish even in the colder weather. The Café is doing a steady trade just now, and they are seeing a lot of new customers coming in about, along with a good showing of regular customers who enjoy frequenting the place.
Down at the Activity Centre they have their regular groups using the place and the bookings are picking up with new customers too which is good. On the wildlife front about the estuary things have been quite static; not a lot of movement, but we did see our first curlews on the 23rd and there were a few whoopers flying overhead but not much else to report.
The weather took a turn for the worse as the month was ending with a very cold front and snow moving in from the east, and the river was sitting just a bit above summer level.
Dago