Heavy rain at times and showery days kept the river running above summer level for the first couple of weeks.
There have been some good patches of colour about the river banks this month with a lot of wild flowers doing well, the Purple Loostrife being one, and Rebeccia another, the latter covering a narrow strip that stretches for hundreds of yards below the Friarton bridge.
We are seeing a few seals up in the estuary just now, some with pups close by, and with the grilse run now underway they are making the most of a good food source.
The wader scrapes that were dug into the marsh last year have greened up well, and we are seeing a lot of insect activity around the edges, the birds are also starting to frequent them.
This year has been poor so far for butterfly sightings, with just the odd few about unlike the good numbers we have had previously.
There are plenty other insects taking advantage of the Knapweed and other wildflowers along the banks.The osprey is a regular fisher on the river just now, and has been seen carrying smaller sized fish from the river. There are also a lot more lapwing around just now, sometimes over forty in a flock.
The Verona was one of the bigger coasters that was plying its trade at Perth harbour this month. Work this month again was more of the same with a lot of grass cutting, and strimming of invasive species.
With a good spell of weather being enjoyed, some of the bothies got freshened up with a lick of paint. There was an autumn feel around the end of the month with cooler mornings, fields of grain being harvested and the rowan berries starting to ripen up The river was back at summer level as august arrived.
