Went for a walk this evening in Richmond Park. Not been there much lately. Something to do with painting a French army. Did a spot of impromptu brambling. No container so I had to eat what I picked. The berries are small but sweet. Brambles, by the way, is an English (or British?) name for blackberries.
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| The fern is dying off early this year. |
The state of the plants is quite a shock. Leaves everywhere are shrivelled or droopy. The grass is brown/yellow. We walked up to Pen Ponds (a couple of artificial lakes created by damming streams that run through to the Beverley Brook. A sign of how bad things have got is the fact these ladies were in the top pond having a drink.
I've never seen them near the ponds let alone in them (though what they get up to after the park closes is a mystery to me). There are lots of small ponds that wouldn't be oversized for a garden, and little brooks or ditches where they normally drink. Presumably a lot of them are dry now. The big ponds themselves are also showing signs of drying up. There was a party of people sat on a little 'beach' that is normally under water. I have not seen this here before.
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| Those tall grasses in the background are normally in the water. A drop of several inches of height of the water level. |
It's still a beautiful place.
Always something new to see.
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| Some sort of hawk? |
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| It didn't stay for a closer shot. Managed to catch it as it flew past, though not much more than a blur. |
Yes, that certainly looks very dry, Chris. I read elsewhere today though, that the heatwave is almost over, and rain is forecast, so normal service will be resumed shortly!
ReplyDeleteWe are supposed to be getting rain over the next few days. The problem is that the ground is so fruit doesn’t soak in easily and runs off. If it’s really heavy rain we’ll get flooding.
ReplyDeleteChris
Awful to see. Terrific pictures btw. Just had torrential rain , thunder and lightning overnight here. Not seen a storm like it for ages.
ReplyDeleteAlan Tradgardland
I’m afraid when we get it, it will just flood like Steve said.
DeleteChris
We went to North Norfolk at the weekend and the view from the church mound in Downham Market was bizarre, as the ground was just straw coloured as far as the eye could see, with just green lines of trees and shrubs. I've never seen it this bad, even in the drought of '76. Also the grass actually crunched underfoot as it was so dry! Rain possible over the next few days but as the ground is as hard as concrete, I'm afraid it will just run off and do no good.
ReplyDeleteIn 76 the drought seemed to go on longer, but then everything seems to last longer when you’re young. I think temperatures are higher this time by up to 10 degrees at the highest temperatures.
DeleteChris
The drought was longer in '76 (3 months I think?) but it was nowhere near as hot. This past week has seen temperatures of 30C or higher here in Bristol, which is unheard of and frankly has been exhausting. Today I'm actually glad to see it cloudy and am hoping for some rain to dampen down the dust which has been playing havoc with my asthma!
DeleteIt's been pretty dry in New England as well, although not quite as bad as this where we are. A French army, did you say?
ReplyDeleteYes, I did. I completed sufficient French to do Rossbach a week and a half ago. See August 5th post.
DeleteChris/Nundanket
Talk about dry Chris! That photo with the (setting?) sun could almost be from here; 'cept a bit too much dry vegetation, and the wrong trees, of course! With so much energy in the atmosphere, I am expecting a really hot summer again this year.
ReplyDeleteI hope that the flooding did not eventuate?
Regards, James
We had a couple of spates of heavy rain since that post. Some flooding in limited parts of the country. Fortunately not much.
DeleteChris