Monday, January 15, 2007

Summer in New York


Last weekend a record temperature of 22C was set in New York for this date in January, breaking the previous record of 17C. The evening news was full of images of people sunbathing and eating ice cream. In Pennsylvania the current burst of warm weather caused Cherry trees break into bloom and bears have been reported waking from hibernation.

The continuing mild weather is playing havoc with nature here as well. The snowdrops have started sprouting in our front garden at least a month earlier than normal and I've also noticed ladybirds in the house. These insects typically hibernate over winter. Sadly, ladybirds coming out of hibernation now face starvation as the aphids they eat aren’t around to sustain them. A similar fate awaits local hedgehogs that apparently aren’t ready to hibernate either. So far winter has been more reminiscent of Sydney than Europe.

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