Change is in the air

The photos below were taken during a stroll along the bridle way on Sunday morning, the last day of September.  There are clear indications of the transition from late summer into autumn.

 

Angle Shades Moth

Birches by the wayside

I take many pictures of trees  –  perhaps too many!  –  but the birch takes pride of place.

Rotting tree stump

I came across this tree root beneath the hedgerow beside the bridle way.  At this time of the year, when the grass is comparatively inactive, all sorts of things become visible that are normally not noticed.  At a first cursory glance I was not sure what I had found  –  you can perhaps understand why!  It is, in fact, the rotting root of a hawthorn.  The photo has not been ‘doctored’, except that some of the growth around the trunk has been removed to show its shape more clearly.

Tanglewood roots

Years  – decades? centuries?  –  of pruning and layering have produced writhing confusion at the base of this hawthorn but it has fought back with gusto.

Tanglewood roots