The milder weather continued into the first week of November with the occasional s thrown in; and after the first couple of days saw the rising river peak just under the ten feet mark before it was slowly abating over the next couple of weeks to around the six feet mark.
There has been a variety of jobs undertaken this month, the usual grass areas have all had their final cuts of the season, but we have been cutting back some rougher areas in places to let the early wild flowers get a good start in the spring time. It’s that time of year again when we get a bit time to cut some wood ready for splitting, and chapping some kindling to keep the supplies going for the wood burning stove.
We have tidied up a few big tree limbs in various places that the storms had brought down, no point letting it go to waste.
The second half of the month saw the mercury plummet, there were hard frosty mornings with some spectacular sun rises,
and the river level dropped another three feet over the next week as the cold snap soon slowed the run off from up in the catchment areas. The bird feeders soon got busier with the colder weather, the sunflower hearts and the peanuts were needing replaced a bit more frequently as the birds appeared in greater numbers. The Siskin numbers are picking up now, and the Nuthatch and red squirrel have been regulars at the peanuts.
The White Egret has been about the last few days, and out on the river we have been seeing the seal, the otter and the odd Whooper swan.
The tides were smaller into the second half of the month but we were still seeing the odd boat and skiffs out on the water some days.
It was a wetter end to the month before a last couple of frosty days, and the river was back up around the five feet mark as November drew to a close.
Dago
