We had a cool calm showery start to the month and by the end of the first week there was a bit spate back on the river after some heavy rain, but it soon settled back down again.
Overall it has been quite a windy month, with the odd bit of damage done to some tree limbs about the place but nothing too major. Once again the majority of our time has been spent cutting/strimming and trying to keep everything in check about the place, which is pretty constant and ongoing at this time of year, but at least we had a nice change of scenery for a bit when we got up to help out strimming at our Cargill rod beat, it is such a different environment from the estuary considering it is only a few miles up river.
We have seen a bit more wildlife this month from the Osprey with a fish up at the fishery to young Water hens down at the Activity Centre.
The seal is a regular just now, and the Otter, Kingfisher and Redshanks have put in an appearance as well. Along the river banks there are more colours constantly coming through; with the Blue Monkshood strong in some areas, the Rebeccia is everywhere as usual and the Purple Loosestrife is quite picturesque in areas.
Then there is the Himalayan Balsam and Teasels which are covered in bees on some of the warmer days.
With more easing up of the Covid lockdown restrictions coming in again this month, the Activity Centre is getting a lot busier now, the river kayak tours are proving very popular
along with the early morning swimming, but there is much more to enjoy as plenty school children will testify too.
It is also good to see more of the staff back in working again in the job they all enjoy. There was another bit of spate near the end of the month that quickly abated this was followed up with a high pressure moving in from the south that was bringing some welcome heat with it.
Dago