The colder dry weather was to continue into the start of April with a few frosty days thrown into the mix, and the river level continued to slowly drop back over the first week or so before a wet spell saw it spike back up to around the seven feet mark again.
There were warm spells too, and it was not long before the grass cutting season was well and truly underway. The mower and strimmer have now all had a run out. What with the lighter nights now and seeing our first sand martins(18th)
and swallows(21st) it does feel like winter is finally behind us. The bees have been busy and after another check in on the hive, the guard and insulation board have been removed and the queen excluder and a super have been added.
The snowdrops have long past and the bluebells are beginning to open up everywhere now.
There are more oyster catchers and common sandpipers about the riverside now, but still no sign of an osprey yet over the river. There were 12 ducklings sighted out on the fishery pond on the 18th and we are seeing some birds carrying feed now too.
It was good to see that some of our nest boxes are back in use again this year. As the month drew to an end we were seeing some large flotillas of goosanders working together at the smolts as they were making their way back down the river system, the odd heron was joining them in the feeding frenzy from the sides as they passed down through our area of the estuary.
The beavers are still about dropping the odd trees along the river edge and we are still occasionally seeing the odd otter too. After the bit spate we had mid-month the river level from then on slowly drooped back and was just under the 2 feet mark as the month drew to a cold dull damp close.
Dago