The Long Road Into Autumn

So just when does Autumn begin? It's a subject which has vexed and perplexed mankind for centuries. "September 22nd!" shout the traditionalists. But if that's so, and the seasons are each just three months in duration, then Summer begins on Midsummers Day. That won't do. The Met Office make a claim for September 1st, but that's only so they can lump together the figures for September, October and November together and call them "seasonal averages".

But, after a lifetime of observation and research, involving walking down many long and half-forgotten by-ways, I can tell you exactly when Autumn begins every year......

....which is when it's good and ready!

My latest voyage of discovery, as you shall see, unearthed a few hints of Autumn, some shades of Summer, a suggestion or two of Spring and fleeting omens of Winter. A couple of days ago the chill wind brought news of change, but then it turned pleasantly warm, which is what tempted me outside in short sleeves.

Such glimmers of gold as were around were like little Sparklers in the hands of children as they await the main firework display of colour which will come later. Will it be the finest show ever, or will it fizzle out in an untimely downpour and destructive winds? And speaking of destruction....

....many of the trees in this little scrap of woodland have been browsed by deer at some time in the past, though I saw no evidence of recent damage. The tree above seems to have been fashioned into an impressive entrance for a mouse's residence. 

Sometimes only past trauma can reveal the beauty within.

But despite a scattering of yellow leaves we are still a long way from the golden glory that everyone hopes for.

There's plenty of evidence that squirrels have been feasting royally on the beech nuts and an empty snail shell may be the work of a Song Thrush.

I'd really come out expecting to find a few fungi springing up after the recent rain, but this is all I could find and it looked as though it had been around for a good while.

As I've shown you before much of this little woodland is covered in ivy - and that will stay green all through the winter. Although it may overwhelm trees eventually, it only uses them for support, gaining all its nutrients from the soil. And it certainly doesn't strangle anything, climbing straight up the tree in its search for light. It also flowers around this time of year, providing nectar for insects when little else is around.

But if you want to see bright autumn shades at this time of year you could do worse than peer into gardens and parks.

As ever humankind is in a hurry and desperate to move things along more quickly; we like the earliest spring flowers and the earliest autumn colours, the bar-b-q things come out way too soon and Christmas goods are probably in the shops already. Hurry, hurry.

Maybe that's the last rose of summer blooming in front of a background of ripe berries.

Take care.

The Sneaky Season

Autumn has just begun creeping up on us, though the weather yesterday was warm and sunny for the first time in what seems like weeks. So I was out on my rambles and caught these glimpses of the changing seasons through the corner of my eye.....

Take care.

A Calendar For 2020

It's become a regular tradition for me to rummage through my photographs at this time of year to find twelve that might make a calendar for the next year. It seems to get harder every year as things don't always occur as you'd expect - no snow in January and autumn colurs coming later and later each year. Anyway these are the ones I came up with...

january

february

march

april

may

june

july

august

september

october

november

december

Take care (and all the best for next year of course).

A Few Fine Days

A few fine days and suddenly we're all thinking about Spring, even though the meteorologists inform us that it's still winter. But things are certainly beginning to look different. Come with me for a stroll around my local area.

I'm off on one of my regular walks that I can do straight from my back door. I have three or four walks that I can choose from, across fields, down lanes or beside the river. And suddenly they're all coming to life.

We had a sudden warm spell like this back in 2012 when temperatures suddenly shot up to 18 C, having been down at -10 C just a few days before. This time though temperatures of 20 C were higher than anything recorded in previous winters.

This little wood is just half a mile or so down the road, though I don't know how many people know it's here. There are a few places near here where daffodils were grown commercially, but some seem to have been forgotten and neglected. The flowers keep coming up even after trees have been planted on the land.

Some people definitely know about this spot though, and there are noticeably less flowers where the fence has fallen down and access is easier!

I take nothing but photographs though and continue on my way down the lane.

The leaves of Arum Maculatum, or Lords-and-Ladies, or Cuckoo Pint, or Snakeshead, or Shiners, or...or....or....….are just bursting through the leaf litter. If you're unfamiliar with this plant I wrote a whole post about it here.

It's been warm enough to convince this Seven-Spotted Ladybird that summer is on its way. It may be our most common Ladybird but it's still nice to see it around.

Given the right growing conditions (and no interference from mechanical flails) the common hedgerow Blackthorn can give displays every bit as impressive as the more celebrated blossom trees.

Periwinkle tries its best to escape from the garden environment and, though it's not usually considered as a troublesome invasive species here in the UK, it could perhaps become one if our climate changes in the way it threatens to.

Unbroken blue skies have been the order of the day for the past week or so, though as I write this we're already back to our more usual February fare.

Our little chalk stream, the River Mel, cheerfully makes its way beneath the sun-blessed blossoms. It's less than a mile from its source here and it's crystal clear as it passes over its gravel bed. 

Whether this is the start of Spring or just a pleasant respite from winter remains to be seen.

Take care.