This month started off with a dry cold day and a dropping river level, after the clocks had been put back the previous weekend there was a noticeable change in the working daylight hours towards the end of this month.
The weather continued to get colder as the month progressed with the mercury getting down as far as minus 5⁰C on the 25th, this was to have an effect on the amount of open water left available to fishers for fishing up at the Willowgate Fishery.
There was a bit more time spent cutting and splitting logs again this month to keep supplies up for the wood stove in the café, and also for filling bags that are now on sale to the public at the Willowgate Fishery.
We had the SSPCA back down to the estuary twice this month (on the 6th and the 29th). Both times they brought more swans and cygnets with them from their rescue centre, these were swans that were nursed back to good health before being safely released back into the wild again.
The tractor and mulcher finally got finished all the cutting of pathways and net greens for the season, there was a bit more running repairs needed to see the job done with the welder being called on a couple of times to help out but we got there in the end!
After a very successful season on our Salmon Fishing beat at Cargill landing 567 Salmon the rod fishing cobbles have been brought down to our old boatyard, where they are being dried out ready for any maintenance work that they may require before their annual coat of tar and paint.
The spades were busy again doing a lot of planting this month as we made inroads into twenty plus sacks of daffodil bulbs. These were being planted in a variety of locations; from the Willowgate Fishery, all the way down the estuary along the riverbanks, pathways and roadsides. These should add a bit of colour around the place and also add to the bio-diversity in the area.
Now that the weed cutting boat up at the Willowgate fishery is finished with for the year it has been taken out of the water for the winter, while it is up on dry land it will give us a chance to have a good look at, it and get on with some maintenance and alterations to it so that it is all ready to go again next summer!
The feeding station up in the wood has been busy during the cold spell with all the birds enjoying a mixture of fat blocks, mixed seeds, chaff and old apples to keep them going. There has been a bit more activity along the estuary this month; with a few Goldeneye returning to the area, our Redshank count is only up to nine so far, but we did get our first Whooper swans back on the 21st.
In the woods the Jays have been busy at the acorns, and we had a rare visit from a Red Squirrel. We often see the reds on the higher ground but they are not usually down with us on the low ground near the river. Bullfinch numbers are good this year and we are seeing a lot more Long Tailed Tits again.
The weather got milder as the month drew to a close with the cold spell coming to an end the river level was just above summer level.
