Tuesday 11th November, 2014
The local newspaper website lived up to expectations and informed us that "Last month was the second wettest October on record".
"Total rainfall measured at the Met Office’s base at Ronaldsway was 210mm. It compares to the October average of 102mm. Only October 2002 recorded more with 228.6mm."
This is substantially lower than the readings on my rain gauge which came to a total of just under 300mm for October but Ronaldsway is near Castletown on the south east coast of the Island and . . . "The driest parts of the island are in the extreme south and over the northern plain, whilst the wettest are the hilly interior and Snaefell." The met office often gives a choice of rainfall forecasts. For instance on Thursday they expect "Rainfall (mm): 5-12 risk 20+, especially upland areas"
Years ago a map showing the variations in annual rainfall across the Island was displayed at the Royal Agricultural Show. It must have been compiled from records kept by Manx farmers. I remember Glen Mooar, between St John's and Rhenass, having the highest rainfall. At the other extreme, Andreas, a village on the northern plain, has the reputation of being the driest and sunniest spot on the Island.
November appears to be trying to beat October for the "wettest month of the year crown" this year. We have already had 206mm in the first 11 days. Maybe we should follow Noah's example. It really is ark-building weather.
The heaviest downpour fell last Thursday. During the night we had 70mm and on Friday morning water was pouring through the hedge at the bottom of our garden and running down the road, threatening to flood a cottage across the road.
This has happened before. There is a ditch in our neighbour's garden which takes surface water running down from the plantation after heavy rain. Sometimes leaves and gravel are washed down and clog the entrance to a pipe which should take the water down to the river. Instead it spills over into our garden.
Last year our neighbour and the people who live across the road were all away when it happened and I climbed through the holly hedge and dug out the debris from the ditch - not a very pleasant task. This year everyone was at home and they managed to sort out sandbags to divert the worst of the water until our neighbour's gardener arrived and got the water flowing through the pipe again.
The entrance to the pipe at the bottom of our ditch doesn't clog because we have a couple of barriers to catch the leaves further upstream and I try to keep the ditch as clear of leaves as possible but leaves had been blown into the ditch overnight and clogged the barriers. I had to pick buckets of wet leaves out of the cold water. But the good news was that the power of the water had washed all the leaves down to the barriers so the rest of the ditch was clear.
I walked up to the plantation to check the stream down to our neighbour's garden. A few years ago it got blocked with sticks and brambles and the water took a left turn and cascaded down our bank behind the summerhouse. I built up the bank and reinforced it with some stones to prevent that happening again and we keep an eye on it to make sure that it doesn't get blocked.
Our waterfall was looking more impressive than usual. In summer there are only a few drops of water dripping over the stones but here is a comparison between the flow on November 2 (left) and November 7 (right) the morning after the deluge.
After taking photos in the garden, I walked down to the bridge over the Auldyn River. The water level had probably dropped a bit by then because it rises and falls very fast but it still looked impressive .
Today has been another wet day. No prolonged downpours but consistent rain and heavy cloud. Not even a glimmer of sunlight, rather like living in a twilight zone. I took a few photos out of the window of the only colour on offer. The leaves on the white flowering cherry are turning colour.
Unfortunately they are also falling - just after I cleared the earlier leaves and beech pods from the front lawn.
Another less than welcome sight . . . pheasants in the garden. I chased at least seven out of the back garden later this evening.
I have had a passionate hatred of pheasants ever since one scratched up and ate all my crocus and fritillary bulbs. They have been a problem ever since a syndicate started pheasant shoots further up the glen. They have been releasing the birds in huge numbers every autumn. I have found that the only solution is to trap the ones that settle here and relocate them far enough from our garden so that they don't return. It is time consuming but is the least cruel option.
I have a lot of trees and shrubs which produce berries. I like to have them to attract the blackbirds and thrushes and other small birds but they do have the unwanted side effect of enticing pheasants into the garden. Here is one of the welcome birds, a well-camouflaged thrush enjoying the cordyline berries.
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