40 days of rain

It has been raining in Leicester for forty days, there has been the occasional flash of sun, but even on those days rain has returned at some point. The garden is beyond saturated and I have hardly managed to get outside to do anything worthwhile in gardening matters.

It is quite miserable weather, quite mild apart from when it is cold.  It is, as they say, Winter.  On the plus side the house is getting tidied more and I am spending more time sewing.  Always look for a silver lining as they say.

Except....

Some of you will be wondering why the photo accompanying this post is of a sunny clump of crocii with a bee enjoying itself.  This photograph is not from this year.  The crocii are waiting, waiting for that moment when they can open their flowers in the sun.  I have hardly seen them open at all.  This makes me worry.  If the flowers cannot open due to lack of sun then what are the early pollinators feeding on?  I imagine that food is currently hard to come by which does not bode well for the season ahead.  

I have been ensuring the bird feeders are kept full.  I do this when the ground is frozen, and whilst there has not been that much frost so far this year, I don't think the constant rain helps them feed either.  Though I do see them feeding when it is raining so this could be an unnecessary worry.   For those of you who may be concerned that I feed garden birds when I have cats: my bird feeders are in the open so there is no where for the cats to hide and the birds have a clear view all around.  

Anyway, its rain and pollinators I am thinking about at the moment.  Whilst bees can fly in the rain, they do not when it is heavy rain so all this rain must be causing them problems.  Bumblebees tend to nest in the ground, which is also a concern when the ground is so waterlogged.  There are puddles in my garden that are a rare sight, it does not usually puddle but the amount of rain we have had this year have meant that water is accumulating.  I need a bit of internet-furtling whilst thinking of writing this and apparently bumblebees are relatively hardy as they are quite big and apparently they can shiver which helps against the effects of the cold.  

So I have concerns, the forecast is still for more rain for days to come.  I wonder what the impact will be on the season ahead.

Take care and be kind.

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