A very early morning walk and this Dipsacus Common teazel drew my attention. A welcome little visitor was also exploring.
@Arlette, good morning to you Arlette, we call them Lady birds in the UK or perhaps that's just me !!! . It was a actually nice to see this one, not a lot around this year. The natural way to keep aphids under control !!!! So the more the better.
Another walk and another topic, this time Autmn fruits in hedgerows. I don't think I have seen such a bountiful amount of berries for many a year. Back in 1963 I remember being told by our very old next door neighbour when I was picking blackberries in his garden, that this will be a bad Winter. I asked how he knew this, he replied, "Because mother nature is supplying the birds with all these berries". And true enough the Winter of 63 was bad. So is 2020/21 going to be a bad one, time will tell!!! Photos are of Rose, Elder, Black berry, Lonicera, Cherry laurel. Last but not least the Acorn, this little seed of the English Oak that grows so big and strong and built the ships that took people around the globe.
These are absolutely everywhere at the moment along our river walk, Sorbus intermedia. So covered in berries as well. Think they are volunteers from nearby gardens that have been allowed to grow and establish. Birds are going to be happy !!!!
September 2nd 2020 and our walk along the Itchen River, everywhere we looked was Mentha aquatica Water mint and Eupatorium cannabinum Hemp agrimony. Also we saw a lot of Lythrum salicaria Purple Loosestrife and Epilobium hirsutum Great willowherb. All for a late Summer show. Also I thought I would take two photos of the same scene of broken branches over some of the river water. One in colour and the other in black and white. Added this for a bit of fun btw. One is definatly more dramatic IMO and perhaps more in keeping with 'take a walk on the wildside'!!!? What one do you prefer???
Ron's comments were for Acerholic's posting #180. I added the link, which is supposed to go to the posting when you click the up arrow, but it's not doing that for me on the Edge or Chrome browsers, does it in Firefox. (I see that I reported that to xenForo in 2018, but they closed my thread for lack of interest. I have replied to my thread, fwiw; at the time it worked in Edge, but now New Edge has incorporated features from Chrome, so the arrow doesn't work any more). @pmurphy did not identify the ones she posted, but that looks like hawthorn to me.
Back to the dog park this morning and more signs of Fall's approach... The last thistle blossom amongst the seedheads Found this colorful little maple - not sure if this is due to the season or just the variety Bigleaf maples starting to turn (the haziness is due to smoke from the wildfires in Washington state) Blackberry leaves are turning
@pmurphy, good evening P, so much bad news here in the UK on the news and then your posting pops into my in box. Cheered me up no end. And what a maple !!!!! Big 'thankyou'.
So very warm along our river walk this morning, Summer has returned !!!!, along with it the sweet smell of Autumn in this Elaeagnus ebbingei 'Pungens' amongst some wild Laurel. We do look forward to this scent every year and never tire of it.
We were at the dog park again this morning. With all the smoke from the wildfires south of the border it feels dark and depressing (not to mention smothering) but there are some bright spots with Fall colors appearing... FYI, the haziness in the photos is from smoke and to give you an idea as to just how smokey it is image #8 is taken at a clearing where you could normally look down on the Fraser River and across to Richmond (you can barely make out the far tree line). And image #9 is actually the sun showing through the smoke (first time in a couple of days we've even been able to see the sun)
@pmurphy Good evening P, amazing photos of Autumn together with a rather worrying haze. With all that is going on around the world to have this smoke as well must be very concerning for you. Do take care P.
The rain has finally cleared away the smoke so we went back to the dog park this morning.... The first two photos were taken at the same lookout and are a comparison of a week ago with the smoke and this morning with a bit of low cloud, what a difference! Not sure what type of mushrooms but they looked pretty poking through the leaves. Snowberry Indian plum Big leaf maple
@pmurphy what a wonderful differance P. At last !!! Regarding the fungai, I think @Frog will know. And the Maple, always a winner with me , Lol.
After going to our local nursery this morning, which is next to our river walk I spotted the first signs of Autumn in the hedgerow. Fagus sylvatica. Quite perfect as it's the Equinox tomorrow.
First day of Autumn and the calm before the storm. We enjoyed a warm, sunny day at the dog park and I began to notice the wide variety of conifers, as well as some nice scenery....
Along our river Itchen walk this morning, the wind was blowing and it was cold. The Autumnal signs were there, with Conkers strewn everywhere from the Horse Chestnut trees. Took me back to being a little boy in the 50' s collecting every single one I could find. Lol. The river had burst it's banks after the deluge of rain and hail these last few days. Very strange to see the water level so high in September.
After several days of wind and heavy rains we were back at the dog park and found many fresh leaves and branches on the ground, we also found one tree down...
