An Invading Plant

Early in March, I took a walk to Old Hall Copse at Woking Palace to see if the daffodils were in flower. They were indeed flowering and very beautiful. But then my companion asked "What's all that red over there?" I turned to look and knew the answer straight away, the Palace Moat had been invaded by the Fairy Fern also called Water Fern, Azolla filiculoides. This water plant turns bright red under environmental stress, it doesn't much like the cold and we'd had snow not long before.

Azolla filiculoides, March 2018

The Banded Demoiselle - Calopteryx splendens

A splendid insect to watch. They flutter like tiny birds around the water's edge. The brilliant metallic blue males dance, showing off to the glimmering green females. You may not notice them as they rest in the long grass of the water meadows, but they fly up at your approach, truly beautiful.

Banded Demoiselle (male)

"The blessed damozel leaned out
From the gold bar of Heaven;
Her eyes were deeper than the depth
Of waters stilled at even;
She had three lilies in her hand,
And the stars in her hair were seven." Dante Gabriel Rossetti

More information about Dragonflies and Damselflies at the British Dragonfly Society

http://www.british-dragonflies.org.uk/home

Wildlife Trusts' Action Plan to restore natural flood defences

River Wey in flood, Old Woking, Jan.2014

More rain on saturated ground and the River Wey rose above it's banks, shown here at Old Woking Palace on 4th January 2014. Are there natural, sustainable solutions for flood control?

Woking Palace meadows in flood

The River Wey at Old Woking Palace is brim full.

Water

Water?  here in modern Britain, apart from the occasional hosepipe ban in an exceptional summer, all we have to do is turn on the tap. But how can we be sure it will always be as easy as that?

River Search Launch at Dapdune Wharf