Today we had a short walk around the walls before going to Maidenhead where we did the circular walk around the Green Way. It’s been a warm day with plenty of sunshine but also some sharp showers, fortunately we missed them walking but had a difficult moment driving through one of them later on!
In Chichester the Lavant has ceased flowing, it was there yesterday, gone today. Clearly the dry spell has had it’s predictable effect and the ground water level has dropped. Just where I took this snap I saw a Brown Rat scuttling along the bed of the river, not particularly large but with that unmistakeable tail. Just shows that they’re everywhere although I’ve not noticed any here before.
Two of the tall trees between the car park and the station are dropping so many fluffy seeds it seems like snow is on the path. I think these are Aspens but it’s difficult to be certain in Chichester as there are so many unusual varieties about.
In the Nature reserve at Maidenhead it was relatively quiet apart from the lunchtime joggers going
round an round in circles. It was very noticeable that the Cow Parsley that had overgrown the paths had died back to be replaced, in part at least, by the Yarrow that’s shooting up now.
Plenty of birds about including these two Coots that were very vocal in the Cut. The Chaffinches seem to be particularly active along with the many Blackbirds there.
Not many flowers out apart from Mallow that’s very much in evidence everywhere. Bittersweet had come out into bloom in a few places, very pretty but also dangerous due to it’s berry. I clearly remember it as a child as I’d been told it was Deadly Nightshade, not correct but a relation and may have been good advice to keep me away from them. Like so many things it seems to be much less prevalent now that it was all those years ago.