It was a cool dry start to the month, and the weather let us get on with the last stage of concreting the slipway down at Newburgh.
There was a shorter time span to do this bit of the job as it was well below the high water mark, but it all went to plan and the job was completed. With the shuttering removed and the rest of the area tidied up it was good to see the slipway restored back to working order.
There has been a lot of activity this month on the estuary with the return of more migratory birds. From the common sandpiper on the 7th, to the sandmartins and swallows that were finally appearing in numbers towards the end of the month. The osprey has been sighted with a fish near to the mouth of the Earn and the mute swans are nesting on one of the islands at the Willowgate Fishery.
There was a big spate on the river on the second week of the month, when a quick thaw caused a lot of snowmelt on the higher ground, and that put 12 more feet of water onto the level of the river almost overnight. This extra water took a while to settle back down, but the river was soon back running clear again. At this time there was an increase in goosander numbers as the smolts started to drop back down the system.
We are seeing a lot of fungi appearing in some areas where there are more dead trees lying around.
It had been a mixed spell of weather towards the end of the month, but there were a few warmer days, on which there was a lot more insect life on show and there have been some good fly hatches around the fishery to get the trout active on the surface.
The wild Primrose, Marsh Marigold, Summer Snowflake and Cuckoo Flower are all out in flower and the Butterbur is coming through in some areas.
We are also seeing more butterflies about now and we had our first Orange Tip on the 29th.
When doing the annual litter pick down at Newburgh there were a few coasters to be seen heading up river to Perth Harbour with their cargoes.
The area covered was the pathway and foreshore, between the old boatyard and the county burn, a distance of nearly two kilometres.
When the litter was all cleared up, there was almost a full skip-load to be taken off sight.
The month ended with cooler weather and the river level falling back again.
