This ash tree, like many here, turned golden this Autumn. 2 days after I took this photo we had a windy night and all the ashes were bare. Moral of the story: always take a pic. when you can
Monday 16 November 2009
Autumn
I haven't written since the beginning of September, mostly because the computer has been in decline, finally suffering a mental breakdown, however, we discovered it was still under guarantee so recently it has been back to the manufacturer for a lobotomy. So far so good and no frankinsteinish moments yet.
Continuing where I left off:~ we did have one moment of heartbreak, when one wednesday morning I found 2 of our tawny owls run over within a quarter of a mile of each other.
For ages we had had the owls calling to each other across the yard. I am assuming it was two youngsters that got squashed, but it was horribly quiet for about a week, with just the female pitifully toowitting. Then a male started to call and the conversations struck up again. What made both owls be on the road that night is a mystery as there was no change in the weather.
Happier news about the butterflies and dragonflies. I finally saw 2 speckled woods, 3 red admirals and more painted ladies late in September and into October. The dragonflies were late, but September and even late October saw Southern Hawkers patrolling near the pool. It was only the change to more rain than fine that brought most of the insects to a halt.
The dry Autumn brought a long and colourful season, though I wouldn't rate it as exceptional in that the trees dragged on with their leaves so that individual species were good but the overall effect not as spectacular as some years. It has, though, been a wonderful year for fungi, except the one I really want, field mushroooms! I haven't seen one. Now of course, since the beginning of November the rain has arrived and with it a certain lack of enthusiasm to do too much wildlife hunting.
The last week has seen several flocks of starlings, with one popping in on the patch at the back of the house. The ground was nose to tail starling all a chatter. They were incredibly busy finding something to eat and then were gone as suddenly as they'd arrived. Do they send a scout ahead to look for good feeding stations because there wasn't even the odd one about before. I have also noticed small flocks of little birds passing overhead so I guess that winter is not far away.
Tree stump
These are growing on an old oak tree stump. The tree was killed by lightning many years ago. The mosses, plants and jagged old wood make wonderful landscapes in miniature.
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