Prologue
Guelder rose in autumn glory
Hands up, we have to admit the blogging output here at Wood Elf Towers has been – well, pretty non-existent of late, with Wood Elf Weekly becoming more like Wood Elf Only Very Occasionally. And like most things in life, it seems as though the less the blogging muscles are exercised, the more flabby and out of condition they become. So today the Wood Elves had a Board Meeting to put things in order and to see what we could blog about. There was a collective chewing of pencils, lots of thoughtful faces pulled, and some worthy suggestions (the spread of Phytopthera in southwest Scotland; latest news on threatened ancient woodlands; impacts of climate change) but they all seemed such depressing ideas and there was nothing that got us excited and the brain juices flowing. Fast running out of ideas, tea and fondant fancies, our collective gaze eventually turned to stare out of the window, where a pair of buzzards were lazily circling up into a sapphire blue sky, above a hillside ablaze with autumn tinted bracken and dotted with flame coloured trees………
Autumn tinted trees are beautiful against a clear blue sky
One thousand shades of Autumn
Autumn often gets overlooked in the grand scheme of things. We talk about snowy/mild/wet winters, hot/mild/wet summers and even late/mild/wet springs, but autumn just seems to be forgotten. Personally I love Autumn, it’s absolutely my favourite season. I love the way the leaves just blaze in a thousand different colours in low afternoon sunlight, and the hedgerows are be-sequinned with dots of glorious colour from fruits, berries and nuts; it’s just full-on bling. Autumn 2013 is, however, notable because it is, officially a ‘mast year’, where seed and nut bearing trees produce an unusually large harvest, with huge benefits for both the trees and shrubs and the vast number of seed and berry eating birds and mammals they support.
Certainly here in south west Scotland the hedgerows are dripping with vivid red hips, haws and berries, the sloes are plump and plentiful and the blackberries sweet and juicy. We have been foraging this autumn and not having to feel too guilty about it; bottles of sloe gin, blackberry and apple crumble, and jars of amber-coloured rosehip jelly are now safely stocked on our shelves and in our freezer. A walk down our country lane takes at least twice as long as normal because even the least pre-possessing of views are now jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Maples and sycamores glow in shades of pinks and russet, whilst the beeches are a zinging coppery-gold. In contrast, the mature and stately veteran oaks in the Glen are taking their time turning, with their leaves delicately edged with delicate metallic hues at the moment, although the younger oaks are embracing autumn with youthful exuberance and rocking a fabulous bronze foliage right now.
A maple’s two-tone autumn colour
The local wildlife is making the most of the bounty too. Red squirrels are furiously digging up our lawn at every opportunity, burying stashes of ripened beech nuts for leaner times. Blackbirds and thrushes are trying their best to strip the hawthorns bare, and soon flocks of visiting fieldfares and redwings will be adding their best efforts to the gargantuan task of removing every last hedgerow berry and un-gathered apple from the apple trees in our garden.
The hedgerows are vivid red this year with berries and rosehips
It’s not just here in SW Scotland where the colours are so amazing, either, The Woodland Trust has a ’Top 10’ list of Autumn Woodlands in the UK for Autumn foliage which are great places to visit, and some great activity packs too including tree and fungi identification packs.
Low afternoon light illuminates the golden leaves of an old oak
Even when the weather is that drab, battleship grey and the damp mists cling to the hill sides and the rain is cold and miserable, Autumn colours still manage to zing and bring an unexpected lift to an otherwise monochrome vista. So, Daffodils, Mr Wordsworth? you can keep them, my ‘Mind’s Eye’ will always be thinking of Autumn.
Wood Elf Weekly 