I ended the August blog with a line about a chill descending on us, heralding the change of season from Summer to Autumn. How wrong I was – September brought us day after day of hot weather.
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During this month the terrible weather has been talked about endlessly, almost as if it has been a surprise. A miserable month with almost continuous rain, two major storms, (Antoni and Betty), lots of thunder and lightening and wild , ‘unseasonably windy weather’ (MET).
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Over the years that I’ve been here, I have occasionally spotted a White Pheasant in the woods down the lane from our field. More recently, on rare occasions, I have spotted two together but ever elusive they always disappear within seconds, well before me and my camera are ready. Read More
As I departed Cornwall for the shores of Shetland at the beginning of June, the weather finally settled and moved into being the hottest June since 1884. Records broke in Culdrose just up the road from where I live at 32.2C and in Shetland it had the lowest temperature at 10.2 C.
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May came galloping in, bringing appalling weather, floods a plenty, cold nights, No Mow May, Dawn chorus Day, Flower Moon, Beltane, (or May Day), hedgerows dripping with blooms, grasses of all shades, hungry birds and homeless bees. In 2006 the poet Wendy cope wrote a poem about this month.
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April was a month of waiting; for the weather to change, to cut the grass, to plant out the first of the Spring vegetables, to feel the warmth of the sun. But no, April did not deliver, it was cold, wet and very unsettled. Two days of sun mid month was not enough. Endless supplies of mud was traipsed into the house via dogs and wellington boots.
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The sporadic moments of warmth we had in February which held such promise for March, quickly faded away as the bitter, cold weather arrived early in the month. Snow arrived in Bristol and in the North of England, here on The Lizard it was dry and bitterly cold. Warm days visited us in mid March lulling the plum trees into full blossom but sadly we then got hit by a blast of wet and windy weather, (the wettest since 1836 according to the MET), and in two days the trees were stripped of blossom. Another year without a plum in sight I fear. Several trees came down in the woods behind Kennack Sands, where I take my regular morning dog walk.
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I love this time of year. The energy stirring underfoot, snowdrops and daffodils out in full force, birdsong increasing, the tunes changing and light coming back into our lives. Time to celebrate Imbolc, the first of the Spring Festivals in ‘The Wheel of The Year’.
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I left the month of November fearing about the warmth of our Winter, and then December arrived and with it the cold, the hail and the snow. It felt good to see and to feel the ice cold winds on my face.
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The rains came to visit and then decided to stay. Lots of rain, lots of sun, lots of rainbows, with warm days and mild nights. Storms battered the UK and floods brought various areas to a standstill.
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Early in the month, on the bank of the river at dusk, we made a recording of birdsong and to my delight there were many more birds around than I had previously realised. However, on reading the list of suggested birds, the App revealed that one of the songs came from a Canada Jay.
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How about this as something to celebrate – one of the RSPB founders, Emily Williamson, launched a campaign in 1889 to end the slaughter of birds for fashion. Emily joined forces with Etta Lemon and Eliza Phillips of ‘Fur, Fin and Feather Folk’ of Croydon, and Winifred Cavendish-Bentinck.
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By the end of August the UK had entered a ‘False Autumn’, brought about by the extreme weather conditions that had occurred during July and August. The MET informs us that it was the 3rd warmest August since 1884, with the rainfall well below the average.
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