At last we got some decent weather as the month got underway; there were some very warm days after some cooler starts to the mornings. This soon had the river level settling back again, and by the second week there was a definite autumnal feel about the riverside as the farmers had the harvest in full swing. With plenty of geese on the move and stubble in the fields summer has all but gone.
During this spell of warmer weather we were also seeing a lot of butterfly activity along the hedgerows and pathways. There has been a lot more movement of birds along the river this month as some are moving on and others are arriving back.
It is good to see the Snipe and the Teal back about the place again, and as the swallows have been leaving us the House Martins at one of the bothies were still feeding a late brood. We have been keeping an eye on the Mute swans that have been returning to our part of the estuary, it is always good to spot some of the darvex ringed birds that come back year after year. Our first Whooper swans were later this year with 3 coming in about on the 30th.
There is a shortage of fruit in the orchard this year, with apple and plum trees doing poorly although the pear trees have fared a bit better; and the birds have already got most of the rowan berries stripped from the trees.
It has been a very good year for the brambles and the sloes have already been picked for this season’s batch of sloe gin!
A lot of our work this month has involved cutting, with pathways, hedges, net greens, and the fishery all getting their final cut of the season (hopefully)!
With the gales coming from the east this time it has brought a lot of guillemots up into the estuary as they have been blown inland off course.
Another job done this month was stocking up again with grain which we do as part of our winter feeding programme, this ensures that the swans and ducks do not go hungry when the weather gets worse. Once again our thanks go to Ted down at Tayside Grain who keeps us supplied with grain over the winter.
On the last day of the month we had the SSPCA come down to the estuary with some Mute swans, cygnets and a goose which were released back into the wild. These were all birds that had been rescued and looked after at their rescue centre until they were ready for releasing back into the wild. Hopefully they will settle in with the other swans in the area. It was a mild, dry blustery end to September with the river level back to normal.
