Male Baltimore Oriole
I saw the sun briefly yesterday morning, just before a thunderstorm darkened the sky to predawn levels of grey. Our normally hot, humid days of summer have been replaced by a wet, "maritime" weather pattern with frequent rain and moderate temperatures. The sun has been hidden for days on end making this the coolest July on record in this area. There are pros and cons to a cool wet summer. The lawn is lush and green, but butterflies and bees have been scarce. My tomatoes have flowers, but the fruit has been very slow to develop. Nights are great for sleeping and air conditioners are not needed, but summer campers and beach goers find it too chilly and wet.
Pileated Woodpecker, Yellow Warbler
Common Yellow Throat, American Redstart
Our summer birds are finding plenty of insects to eat and the colourful ones brighten the dullest days. These pictures were taken on Manitoulin Island this month. All the birds shown here are also found locally, but I had more time to seek them out while on vacation. Birds like the Indigo Bunting do not show their best colour unless they are in sunlight;- others like the Baltimore Oriole flash their bright feathers on any day.
Sometimes I think I should count and see if we have had forty days and nights of rain yet this season. What difference would it make? Let the weather experts count and analyze as I enjoy the view from the ark.
Another blogger from Southwestern Ontario, Elaine Dale, made reference to Noah in this post on Sunday. Her picture taken in Hamilton Ontario gives some idea of the amount of rain we have had.
Male Baltimore Oriole
Pileated Woodpecker, Yellow Warbler
Today's newspaper reports that the Carp River overflowed its banks on the weekend: nothing major, but still.
ReplyDeleteWe are in the midst of a very hot and dry spell over here in Spokane. Not the hottest on record but enough that the red flag warnings are quickly increasing in frequency. Our thunderstorms have been only lightening thus far which hasn't helped the fire danger at all.
ReplyDeleteMy tomatoes are doing amazing but my cucumbers are withering away. It is amazing how the same continent can have such variety in it's weather. I have barely seen any butterflies here either...
Count me among those noticing the weather change today, too (of course we are in the same general area). Changes in various species must send ripple effects throughout all of nature; everything is connected.
ReplyDeleteWith all those beautiful birds around the view from the ark looks pretty good.:-) I sure hope you get some much needed sunshine soon.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,Ruth
I'm afraid with July being unseasonally cooler that August may make up for it in heat. I like the cooler weather, but it's very hard to plan events when it's so unpredictable. But we don't have a choice in the matter so we just have to go with the flow.
ReplyDeleteWe're having exactly opposite weather here in BC - with forest fires to boot.
ReplyDeleteWe are already more than 5" below normal for the year. It's been dry, dry, dry and hot, hot, hot here.
ReplyDeleteWe need 40 days and 40 nights of rain ... to fill up our lake again. It is at an all time low and summer isn't even over yet. So sad to see. And people are still watering their lawns!!!! We let the lawn go, it always comes back.
ReplyDeleteWe too are in a hot spell which should hopefully start breaking down by the weekend.
Ideally, I would like it to be sunny and hot over my garden.-Otherwise I'm fine with a cooler than usual summer.We are just getting hit with the heavy duty heat for the first time this week.
ReplyDelete