Penny camouflaged

Penny was almost invisible recently, after she frolicked in a mud puddle, enjoying the rare experience of rain, and then rolled in the dry dirt where there used to be grass.

And now she's at it again, blending in to the indigenous grasses of another park.

Isn't it lovely to see how the native grasses can cope with the current dry weather? Thank goodness for the people who work so hard to put in appropriate plants that can support wildlife. (Volunteers, for the most part.)

It's hard to keep non-native grassed areas alive now, with such a lack of moisture, and you can see in the next photo what a difference it makes if the area is watered. The more distant part has received water, in order that sporting events can go ahead.

I used to be critical of the use of water on sporting grounds, until I went to a talk recently about how decisions are made when allocating our precious water resources. The speaker told us that in the awful Millennium Drought, suicide rates soared in many towns when sports grounds were allowed to go to ruin, and when consequently sports events were discontinued. The psychological value of such community events is incalculable.

I sure hope we're not creeping into another drought...