Started well with our first frost and a settled spell of dry weather, giving us good days to get on with our maintenance and seasonal jobs, including grubbing the gravel beaches with the tractor at some of the old fishing stations.
This is a job that slackens up the surface, letting the winds and tides cleans out the silt and mud that has built up over the summer months, leaving the roots of any growth bare for the frosts to kill off. This results in a good clean gravel area that will be used by many of the wintering waders who flock to the estuary. The geese also enjoy all these bare roots when exposed by this form of maintenance.
Another maintenance job saw the Iron Duke (a metal barge) getting a bit of welding done to its base, and some new flooring put in, ready for use again. The tractors, diggers and dumpers got a welcome service, to set them up for their winter work.
Some areas along the riverbank have had bluebells added, enhancing
previous additions of snowdrops and wild primroses. The fieldfares are moving through in large numbers now and some of the smaller birds are beginning to flock up. There is also an increase in redshank numbers. The feeding stations in the wood, for the birds, are now up and running with the woodpecker being an early visitor to the fatblocks. The 19th saw the arrival of our first whooper swans (7), of which 6 were adult birds. The river had a good spate on by the 20th, with a lot of big trees and debris coming down the system, a lot of which ends up on the net greens due to strong onshore winds.
This leads to a lot of chainsaw work and clearing up to help the biodiversity of the area. The net greens are well used by the redshanks and other birds over the winter months, and produce a variety of wild flowers from early spring right through to late autumn, a benefit of keeping them clear of drift and cutting them at appropriate times in the year.
With the wet weather continuing, some inside jobs were seen to, including the painting of the old bothy, giving it a freshen up. A replacement bogey was also made for the small railway line, using the original wheels and axles.
The month ended with milder weather and the spate abating.
Dago.
