The month started off with a dull, dry cold spell; and the river level was sitting between the four and five foot mark; but a couple of days in we had a quick thaw and a rapid snow melt that saw the river rise quickly again to over eight feet on the gauge before some frosty nights slowed up the run-off from up in the catchment areas.
We have had the white Egret put in an appearance on the river bank on the 6th which was good to see; and the Nuthatch is a bit of a regular at some of the peanut feeders as well, but now that we are seeing some shellduck about and the oyster catcher numbers picking up it is always a good sign that spring is just around the corner.
The beaver is still around and leaving his mark on various trees about the riverside, and most days we can see the seals and sometimes the otter too.
Some of our work this month has included general maintenance on some of our kit, getting it all ready for when the grass cutting starts up again. A fine chance to change the plugs and oil, and give the blades a sharpen up again. The shed and garage also got a long overdue clear out and tidy up too. The snowdrops were later coming through in some areas this year but are showing up well now, the crocus are bearing up against some stormy weather
and the daffodils are pushing up through the ground in places too.
Another job done on some of the wetter spells was patching up a few of the old nest boxes that were either down in the storms or had been taken down after being damaged by the squirrels and woodpeckers;
these usually got treated, patched up and put back up, all ready for use again before the nesting starts up.
By the 23rd the river was back up around 10feet above summer level again on the gauge.
The month drew to a close with a cold frosty day and the river level was sitting steady at just under 5 feet. Hopefully the worst of the winter is behind us now and the weather keeps improving.
Dago