The first month of the new-year started with gales and rain, frost and snow all in the first week.
The river continued to run well above summer level with varying amounts of spate coming down the system. The first job on return to work involved the digger and dumper doing a bit of maintenance to the roads, filling potholes and ruts, as-well as levelling some low areas.
More gales caused disruption to some of the bothies, with trees down on overhead cables causing power failure, and out on the marsh several of the bigger crack willow fell victim with damage to limbs and trunks.
For all the adverse weather, the snowdrops are out in their glory and the crocus and daffodils are not far behind them.
There were some good sightings on the estuary this month with three young otters swimming along the waters edge being one of the highlights, again the seals could be seen in good numbers feeding on the kelts.
With the ground saturated, redshanks have been leaving the waters edge to feed in nearby fields, the dipper was a regular in the burn, and snipe were about in good numbers. A large flock of chaffinch (100+), along with some goldfinch and sisken were feeding on the reed-mat at the high water area. The waterrail put in a rare appearance, and 150+goldeneye were present at the mouth of the harbour. A lot of work-time this month was keeping the net greens clear of driftwood and debris, left behind by spate and gales.
Bailing out boats was a daily routine for a while, but there were some good dry, mild days, when outside work was possible. The month ended with more gales, and big spate, causing local flooding.
