Dry Landscapes

No-one would have thought a few weeks ago, as we slopped about in a muddy garden and soggy countryside, that we would be wishing it would rain. We keep looking at the forecast and seeing a few showers forming close by, but none of them seem to reach us. So, our walks around Shipley Park recently, have been hot and dusty and increasingly desiccated. Through Pewit Carr this morning, the Meadowsweet was wilting and the Creeping Thistles were looking grey and tired.

The area known as Manor Floods, seems to be very badly named as here too, the grasses are drying out in the sunshine, leaving a golden landscape beneath the blue skies.

The Hawthorn tress which were smothered with millions of white flowers just a few weeks ago, are now trying to form their little fruits. Not only are they battling the drought conditions, but they seem to be struggling against the onslaught of a fungal disease which was something new to me. Looking like a strange gall of some kind, it is actually called Cedar-quince Rust.

The 'Rust' part becomes apparent when you touch the affected fruits and get covered with a fine, rusty powder.

Just one more picture for today and it's of a huge Bumble Bee which was taking it easy on the fence in our back garden yesterday. It is a Buff-tailed Bumble Bee (Bombus terrestris) and an impressive specimen it was too.

Still hoping for rain though!

Drought

Despite promises of rain, we've not had any for well over a month now and the countryside around here is beginning to show signs of drought. The exceptionally dry weather has however, seems to have been a boon for hay-making farmers. Almost every field is currently littered with great round bales of the stuff.

Malcolm and I stood and watched as rolls were being spat out of the back of a machine, being towed by a tractor. All a far cry from the days of the pitchfork-wielding labourers of yesteryear.

No doubt all that hay will be appreciated by the cattle during the leaner months of winter. These characters for example...

Down at Straws Bridge, the water levels in Swan Lake are dropping by the day as ducks, coots, geese, swans and gulls all seem to be getting a bit tetchy in the heat. As usual, the Black-headed Gulls are the most vocal about it, but the appearance of a couple of their larger, Lesser Black Backed cousins seems to act as a steadying influence - for a while anyway.

The rest of Shipley Park is looking brown and parched, even in those places where it's usually quite damp.

With all this fine, dry weather, it's been a good year for the invertebrates. Ringlet Butterflies are everywhere...

... and this pair of Soldier Beetles were getting to know each other better on a thistle this morning.

In fact, they all seemed to be at it.

Having sex on a thistle might be considered something of a risky business...!

Buxton

At around 1000ft above sea level, Buxton is the highest market town in England. For that reason it has usually been very cold when Malcolm and I have visited the town, but yesterday, we took Malcolm's mother and her friend June there for a day out. It turned out to be warm, sunny and quite lovely.

After doing a little shopping and having a coffee and apricot croissant (a favourite treat), we had a stroll around the park, keeping to the shady paths under the trees as much as possible.

Lots of people were enjoying the weather, sitting on the benches reading or doing the crossword. Some were sunbathing on the grass, but all were having a good time.

Ducklings were picking around the water and a coot was having a very hot time of it, sitting on its nest of eggs, in full sun.

All very nice indeed.

All too soon, it was time to start heading back to the car, via the conservatory.

The floral exotica was in keeping with the sunny weather. These lilies were particularly colourful.

Goldfish swam around the pond.

Then it was back out into the sunshine and off to find Pat and June before heading off for lunch.

A lovely day out!