Bank Holiday Weekend in Fryent Country Park

 

Not everyone who reads Wembley Matters is on Facebook so here are some pictures I placed there on Saturday.  I had an afternoon amble around Fryent Country Park looking for signs of Spring  after election leafleting in the morning.  I was not disappointed. The billowing blackthorn blossom has given way to apple, damson and cherry and wild flowers are increasing by the day.

Just the tonic for an overcast May Day Bank Holiday.

Confused.pomme?

A Wembley Matters reader has sent me a photograph, taken in Kingsbury yesterday morning. He remarks:

This year is the first time, in over 25 years, that I have seen ripening apples and apple blossom on a tree in my garden at the same time. Is this another example of the seasons getting mixed up, as a result of climate change?

Skip lorry demolishes tree in Salmon Street, Kingsbury

A tree felled by a storm is always a sad sight, it is even sadder when it has been uprooted by human agency.

This morning around 10.30 a skip lorry, driving out of a building site on Salmon Street, Kingsbury, collided with an ornamental cherry which had stood on the street's grass verge. The tree which was in full blossom, was wrenched from the ground and blocked the north bound lane for some time.

Little comfort after a wet and cold start to Spring 2013

It was so good to feel warm sun on my skin this afternoon when I walked in Fryent Country Park in preparation for a Brent School Without Walls LINK visit by three classes next week.

The city from Barn Hill

What a contrast to this time last year during the mini-heatwave when the blossom was out and ponds were drying up in the drought. Today there was just a small amount of blackthorn blossom in bloom and the first leaf buds of hawthorn were hardly evident.

Blackthorn

 Last year much of the frogspawn shriveled up in the sun as the ponds dried up. I was optimistic that this year with ponds over-flowing the amphibian population would have a chance to recover. Alas, many spawned before the severe cold spell and the spawn's jelly does not appear to have protected them from sub-zero temperatures and frozen ponds Much of the spawn is discoloured and tell-tale flies hover over it. The pictures below contrast the damaged with a rare clump of healthy spawn.

Today's sun did bring out the Lesser Celandines which are always a bright relief after a grey winter:

 

There is a chance that some frogs, toads and newts have not spawned yet and the presence of heron at several of the ponds may indicate activity.

 

Overall, I reckon Spring is 4-6 weeks behind last year. Back on my Birchen Grove allotment the soil is waterlogged. Autumn sown onion sets, garlic and shallots have been squeezed out of the wet clay like pus from an adolescent's spots. Many seeds will have to be started off inside given the cold and wet soil conditions. With such a poor start and the weather unpredictable it is likely to be another poor harvest this year with a further rise in food prices.

Still, enjoy the view across Fryent Country Park to Edgware on a sunny afternoon...