Climate change problems; water levels are falling, bees are dying.

We went walking between Woodstock and Charlbury yesterday.

There are cracks in the ground. But the soil is soft in places too. . In the picture below you can see the bed of a small stream that has already dried up.

A little further down the stream bed there is a spring. Water still flows out of the ground here, as you can see.
But for how much longer will it flow?

On a lighter note I wonder if anyone can identify this strange creature on a clump of grass in the middle of the Evenlode. Water levels have gone back to summer levels this week in the river here.

I went into the woods above Cornbury park this week too. This little pool is a favourite spot of mine. It is not the first time the pool has almost dried out, but it is the first time it has been nearly dry so early in the year.

All the brown area in the foreground is usually a few feet deep.

This man has been keeping bees for over fifty years. We chatted about the TV programme on bees on Channel 4 the other day. Bees are under severe threat. We need them to be there. Without men like this our environment would be in an even worse mess. He said he had seen several dead or dying queens this week. The bumble bee I saw seemed to be having trouble flying. I couldn't get a decent picture.