21-July London in Bloom: July’s Silent Splendour

Viewing the countryside from a train there is always green, but now there are more reds among the trees and as yet no autumn browns. The lime greens and translucent greens of spring are long gone and the greens are now much deeper in colour and often dusty.

In meadows, purples, yellows and whites predominate among the green, but this is soon scorched by dry weather to a blanket straw colour especially on commons and roadsides. It is well worth looking more closely at grasses now, as many are showing off their dangling often colourful anthers. Cocksfoot, which is everywhere, has grey anthers and perennial rye grass, which borders most football pitches, has yellow ones. The best of all are some of the foxtail grasses in damp meadows which are now covered in attractive lavender-coloured anthers. Later in the month, as hay-making progresses, cultivated fields can appear either silver, gold or even bronze depending on the time of day and the light.

Gardens, with all the selective breeding to enhance flower colour, are now awash with strong colours. Hollyhocks, Clematis and Irises between them provide almost every colour imaginable. Herbaceous borders such as the double one at Battleston Hill, Wisley, is where to see the greatest range of colour, with the tropical borders nearby providing the ‘hottest’ ones. Other borders worth visiting are at Golders Hill Park, Myddleton House, Hampton Court Palace and Regent’s and Greenwich Parks.

It is also worth noting the colours of some young birds, which are not just different from their parents but often brighter in colour and with a higher gloss. The red caps of woodpeckers, the blue on magpies and the green sheen of young rooks are all worth looking out for.

Sounds

Young swifts defy the general rule and scream continually as they chase their parents. Their calls seem to get faster and faster at dusk as they ascend to spend the night sleeping on the wing. Quite different are the restful sounds made by swallows as they chatter together, particularly late in the day.

On the estuary, redshanks and lapwings may still be heard as skylarks and yellowhammers can be on farmland. Jackdaws are still ‘jacking’ loudly around old buildings and the coarse calls of parakeets are getting ever more common, particularly when they feed together on favourite trees such as cherries or mimosas. Towards the end of the month a wider range of birdsong starts to return with song thrush, woodpigeon and green woodpecker all starting to be heard more.

As the woods and meadows fall silent with bird song, it is the insects that now start to be heard more. A welcome sound on a hot, hazy day is the soft hum of a solitary bee as it glides by looking for flowers. The hum of many more bees can be heard in lime trees or planted Echiums in gardens, which are still a rich nectar source. Bees can still swarm this month producing a much more intimidating sound. The most comforting sound of all has to be the stridulations of grasshoppers in rough grassland.

These are heard by picnickers in favourable weather conditions in places such as Richmond Park, Ranmore Common, Farthing Down and Epsom Down. These sounds were more appreciated in the past when some South American and Japanese species of cricket were even sold in small, wicker cages in markets and advertised as “singing like canaries”. Occasionally a strange long range howl is heard in the evening. This is likely to be a vixen calling to her cubs as she collects them together for the night. Many birds also make various vocal supplications as they corral their families together to a roost.