The colder weather continued into the first week of the month with the temperature getting down as low as minus 7°C on the 3rd.
As the cold snap kicked in higher up in the catchment area the river level down in the estuary continued to drop back.
There has been very little movement of birds on the estuary this month, with things being a bit static for the time of year. Early on there were a few different mute swans coming in, these could be told apart from the other mute swans by their green darvex rings.
There were also the odd sightings of the kingfisher, dabchicks, and a large flock of long tailed tits passing through. We have started to see the oyster catchers and lapwings returning to the water side again and the teal are still hanging around in good numbers.
We had some coasters plying their trade up the river to Perth harbor again this month, with cargoes of timber and soya being brought in with them.
A big job this month was replacing and repairing some of the flooring in the old barge the “Iron Duke”.
The flooring on the barge takes a lot of wear and tear from the digger tracks when it is being transported around the riverside to different jobs, but now it is ready for use again.
When the weather took a turn for the worse giving us a wet and windy spell, some time was spent in the workshop putting together a few bird tables. These were given a coat of Cuprinol before being put up at various feed stations.
All the nest boxes that we repaired in the workshop, after they came down in the gales over the winter, have now been put back up at various locations around the river. Hopefully some of them will have a bit of success with the resident birds.
The river was running clear with just a little bit extra water coming down the system as the month drew to a close, and the weather was very mild for the time of the year with 14ºC recorded in Perth on the 28th.
