Day one – a new month and what a contrast to the last day of last month, the skies opened up and it rained all day, this was the start of a very wet spell that saw the river back in spate and some localised flooding.
On some of the drier days work continued on our cutting programme tackling invasive species along the river banks.
At Newburgh patches of Japanese Knotweed were strimmed back once again. There was also a bit of time spent cutting back the Himalayan Balsam, which was strong in some of the areas along the side of the new pathway above the old boatyard.
While working down at Newburgh it was good to see a group of forty plus mute swans taking advantage of low tide to enjoy the chance at some good feeding.
A lot of the birds on the estuary are starting to gather up in larger flocks now, we have had over eighty lapwings in one sighting, groups of twenty plus young mallard ducks and eight mistle-thrush were spotted making the most of the water logged ground. It was good to get the chance to see the striking markings of a garden tiger moth close up when it put in an appearance on one of the dry days.
Butterfly numbers are still poor with only a few Ringlet, Peacock and Red Admiral to be seen on some of the better days, the odd small tortoise shell was also sighted now and again.
Fife Council Officers Jim Findlay and Paul Vaughan enjoyed a trip out on the river at the end of the month, this included a look at the wildlife pond that was formed at the top end of the estuary.
Once again Jim Davidson the retired boat-builder from Tay salmon Fisheries Co. was back lending a hand with his skills, this time he was helping to build a bridge at the wildlife pond, this will link up one of the islands to the mainland.
The month ended with slightly better weather and the river running just above summer level.
