Wednesday (18th) the river is still in flood and we've had a lot more torrential downpours ... the bottom step off the pontoon is very nearly under water ...
and the swollen river is encroaching even more onto the grass at the other end of the pontoon by Still Rockin's stern.
Over the last week or so I've seen 2 male and 1 female Mallard with a poorly leg which appears to be very painful as they try to walk and they kept lying down to rest. I wonder if there's a carp or a pike come into the stream with the deep water and are attacking the poor creatures. I saw the ducks with the bad legs a few times afterwards but now I haven't seen them for a few days and so hope they're ok.
The squirrels are out and about, chasing each other through the trees but so far I've not seen them trying to get at the bird feeders. It's funny to watch them hunting for their winter nuts in the grass, fascinating the see them smell one out, dig it up and eat it!
We've seen some lovely sights too ... we often see the crested grebe but the other day saw a little grebe diving for fish. I happened to glance out of the galley window and saw a disturbance in the water and waited to see what had just dived in ... and out came a cormorant with a fish in its mouth! Through the window as we rise up on the river we can see the top of the beam which raises the pontoon, and that's where the kingfisher regularly sits now before diving for his dinner! It really is a lovely mooring here at Hambleden.
Later in the morning we walked up to Hambleden village, it's still frosty ...
and the mist hangs in the trees on the edge of the Chiltern Hills
On the way home the sun has broken through ...
but not penetrated those trees yet
Beautiful!
A Tesco delivery is due too so George finds a plank so that he can carry the shopping trays onto the pontoon and the back deck
The Tesco van has arrived and here is George and the driver delivering our supplies.
A nuthatch on the nuts of course ...
(pictures taken through a wet window!)
and ducks swimming about on the wrong side of the pontoon!
Yesterday (20th) after yet another night of heavy rain, the bottom step is now covered with an inch of water ...
and today (21st), I needed a helping hand as both steps are now submerged as I leave to pop into Henley.
The Thames weir is in full flow, you can usually see the 4 steps that the water drops down, where you see the turbulence is now and the water is perilously near to those electricity points.
The fenders you can see above are usually floating on top of the water but are now standing up at the end of their tether ... the water from the main river route comes into the mill stream under the bridge above but today the top of the bridge arch can hardly be seen ...
this is how it is is when the River Thames is at its normal level!
When I returned from Henley George had found a plank so that we can step onto the pontoon without getting our feet wet ...
at the other end of the pontoon alongside Still Rockin' we are normally able to step off the pontoon straight onto the grass ...
and it's still raining!
Wishing all our readers A Happy Winter Solstice.
2 comments:
That's a fair amount of rain that you've had, Carol. I reckon you and George need to invest in a pair of booted leggings that trout fishermen wear!
We've had a few heavy rainfalls here over the last couple of weeks, but nothing like you are going through. You'll be pleased to know that we have no rain in the forecast for the next two weeks, so it should be a dry and sunny xmas day here in NZ!!
Have a lovely xmas - keeping warm and dry!
Mxx
I am so very pleased that it will be dry and sunny for the festivities in NZ Marilyn! Thanks for letting us know! We've just got to get through to Christmas Eve and then we're off the boat until early Jan ... and I've got my wellies!
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