The cold snap had continued well into the month, with the mercury hitting -7C at times through the night. We have had some snow, but not as much as some of the surrounding areas. And with the big freeze continuing in the higher catchment areas the river was almost back at summer level.
There was plenty trade at Perthharbour this month with a few coasters taking advantage of the big tides to ply their trade.
Work undertaken this month on some of the colder dry days saw the chainsaws, lopers and flail mower working along sections of the river bank. A lot of areas have been cut back short, and thinned out ready for more planting out to be done.
There was also some selective cutting done to take out sukers, and raise the canopy of some trees to let more light into some areas. Most of the smaller branches were put through the chipper giving us wood chippings to use for mulching, some of the bigger branches were stacked and left to break down into habitat piles.
The bothy renovation at the top end of the estuary is coming along, with new window frames and sills being put in place.
Work on the wildlife pond continued with a big mixed hedgerow being planted out along the fence line, this consists of a blackthorn, hawthorn, dog-rose, burnet rose, privet and crab apple, all of which when reaching maturity should help shelter and feed an assortment of wildlife.
Also at the pond casting platforms have been added at sites along the edges, and more bird boxes have been put up in this area too.
Back on the river there have been plenty birds to watch this month, with good numbers of swans, teal, redshank and golden eye. We saw our first shellduck on the 23rd, there were a few yellowhammer about and a rare sighting of a stonechat.
As the month drew to a close the river level had dropped right back and we were enjoying a dry fresh spell of weather.
Dago
