It was a calm dry dull start to the month of February and the river level continued to drop back for the first week before some heavy rain saw it rise quickly again up to eleven feet six on the gauge up at our Cargill rod beat.
Once again the big spate was bringing more big bits of tree and more drift down the system.
The rod fishing season is well underway now and the river is fishing alright so far, and it was good to see our Cargill beat getting off the mark with their first fish of the season earlier in the month. Down at the fishery under the Friarton bridge the boys have been busy tidying up some of the banking, taking out a lot of the reed that has been building up over the years, this should make fishing of the stands a bit better.
They have also replaced all the casting stances up the same side of the pond.
There were some cold stormy wet days when the old fire in the workshop got lit up again
and it was back splitting kindling and doing some maintenance on the kit to fill in the day. When we did get some (short) warm spells the bees were soon piling out of the hive
and making the most of the nearby heathers.
Some of the snowdrops are beginning to die back now but it has been another good year for them, and the aconites are still showing up well in some areas. We are seeing good numbers of siskins and finches about the riverside just now, along with some lesser redpoll, and the teal are still there in good numbers too. I did come across a newt while out working one day, I do see the odd ones but not very often.
Dago