It’s not long ago I was writing about all the wet weather and asking whenever will it stop raining? They say you should always be careful what you wish for, we’ve have gone from one extreme to the other. July was an exceptional month for higher than average temperatures and virtually no rainfall. The garden has transformed from a soggy marsh to a parched crispy crunchy desert in the space of a few weeks, I can’t remember when I last cut the lawn. With us now in drought conditions and hose pipe ban imposed it makes us more aware of how precious water is and how we must not waste it.
Our ducks continue to thrive, the’ famous five’ are now fully grown and will soon be flying, and we have a further clutch of six which are also doing well, so we have boosted our stocks this year, thanks to the community all feeding them. They do the rounds each morning, knowing what time we all get up and visiting each duck friendly house.
I have an injured Jack Daw who lives in the garden, he was very timid to start with but is gradually becoming more trusting, I try to feed him first before the ducks arrive and mob him. But it’s not just the ducks looking for food, the wild birds are also finding it hard, I assume there is a shortage of insects, I have never seen a Kite come down and take bread before.
I keep the bird baths topped up daily which is also a water supply for insects as soon as I fill a watering can there is usually a wasp or two hovering for a drink, they too have suffered this season, the late, hard May frosts killed many queens and early nests, and the hot weather has led to glut of flies. Despite my best efforts the bedding plants have finished and gone to seed, if this trend continues we will have to rethink our planting, the Lavender and Rosemary have certainly done well. I am sure we all watch the weather forecast daily praying for cooler days and some much welcome rain.
Rosemary Stratton
