Past the autumnal equinox.

While Autumn in Europe is generally considered to start at the beginning of September, 'Fall' in North America, is considered to start from the autumnal equinox.  This makes sense to me as it is once the equinox is passed that the leaves really begin to fall and swirl around one's feet. 

Though the Guelder Rose and some Acers have been blazing the trail of autumnal hues since early August, it is in the last couple of weeks that a general colour change in the landscape has gone from insistent to overwhelming.

Left: Guelder Rose and Acers earlier in the month, blazing the trail for autumnal hues.  Right: Watermills Wood, autumn now overwhelming the landscape.


The darker evenings mean that there is now little chance of long focus shots of birds on the wing or even static shots of small birds, fortunately some larger birds rest sometimes.  I have noticed that  Herring Gulls (or a close relative as they seem smaller and sleeker) now equal black headed gulls in number on the Apedale Road pool.  I know little of the movements of these birds, so whether they have moved here due to cooler weather or due to some feeding opportunity or just by chance I cannot say.

Above: Gulls, Herring Gull (perched) or close relative on the Apedale Road private pool, probably still young guessing by the 'tweedy' neck markings.


There is a variety of fungus to be seen in Apedale at present, though the quantity in any one place never seems to be very large.  The most frequently found ground fungus must be the Common Yellow Russula, though for quantity of fruiting bodies the Honey fungus has it.  The Honey fungus, of course, grows on wood, but is often seen on the ground at the base of trees and even fence posts.

Left: Russula ochroleuca (Common Yellow Russula), classic yellow ochre colour.  Right: Armillaria mellea (Honey Fungus), growing at the base of a tree.

The best fungus find I have had so far was some very impressive Oyster mushrooms growing in the hollow of a Sycamore, each one was about twenty centimetres across and condition was perfect.  These mushrooms are good to eat and one would have been enough for a generous serving.  As there were only three and as these are the only examples I have seen, I left them where they were growing.  I will keep a close eye on the tree though.  Quite a large area of the hollow was covered with a white growth that I think may be growing spores.  There may be much more to come.

Though Oyster mushrooms are seen growing on dying trees, it is not thought that they are parasitic, they simply feed on decaying wood rather than cause wood to decay.  Honey fungus, on the other hand is parasitic and destructive.

Above: Very impressive Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus ) in perfect condition, growing in the hollow of a Sycamore.  I am hoping this is just the beginning.

Also impressive in size is the Birch Polypore.  The polypore grows all year round, but there seems to be a flush of new growth at the moment, there are certainly some pristine examples around just now.  The Birch Polypore was apparently used both as a razor strop and as a wound dressing in the past.

Above: A pristine Birch Polypore (Piptoporus betulinus).  They have a lovely velvety feel when in this condition.

A walk through the woods near the Wood Lane pool revealed more fungi.  I recognised one as Fly Agaric, the other I had to look up.  This second fungus was a type of puffball or stemless mushroom, but was not smooth like those I have a little familiarity with.  These turned out to be Common Earthballs.  The Common Earthball is poisonous, unlike many of the puffballs.

 Left, Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) and right: Common Earthball (Scleroderma citrinum), both enjoying the growing conditions provided by leaf litter in Miry Wood near Wood Lane pool.


I was walking the track from Apedale Road into Watermills Wood late one evening, when an airborne yellow object caught my eye.  I thought it was a falling birch leaf tumbling in the breeze, then I thought it might be a butterfly, then I thought it was a birch leaf again.  I investigated anyway and it turned out to be a moth.  I managed to get some photographs despite the poor light.  I have since found out that this was a Brimstone moth, as it is a night flier I was lucky to have what light I did.   The Brimstone is around from April to September so that autumn leaf disguise has only been useful for a week or two.

Opisthograptis luteolata (Brimstone Moth) - Around from April to September, mainly flies at night.


There is always something particularly entrancing about the experience of something familiar doing something unexpected.  I have had a couple of 'chroma shocks' recently, where very familiar plants have appeared in very unfamiliar colours.  The first shock was a bright one, Rose Bay Willow Herb in outrageous autumn colours.  Elsewhere along the footpaths there are stands of this plant, green at the bottom yellow in the middle and red at the top, bright as an upside down Ethiopian flag.  The other colour surprise was seeing perfectly even blue-black rose hips near Loomer Road.

Left, Rose Bay Willow Herb in outrageous autumn colours set off by a background of still green leaves.  Right, perfect blue-black rose hips on what is probably Rosa canina.


I was very lucky one day when out on a morning run.  I have written more than once about the difficulty of trying to photograph the large hawker dragonflies which never seem to land in daylight.  I have gone out early in the morning, when they are supposed to be less active, but have failed to find any at all.  This particular morning, not particularly early, I found a Southern Hawker soaking up the sun in the trees near the main pool in Miry Arena.  As I was running, I had only my compact camera with me.  The compact is excellent just so long as one can get close enough, so it was with more than a little nervousness that I approached the magnificent insect.  As it happened I managed a few different angles and he was still perched when I left.

A magnificent Southern Hawker soaking up the sun in the small oaks bordering Miry Arena.  This image demonstrates quite well how an insect that is very brightly coloured, can actually be surprisingly well camouflaged in the right environment.  There is an image from another angle in the dragonfly gallery here.
 

Shine on harvest moon

I spent some more time in the outer fringes of the area and found more than I expected, caught up with some late flowering plants and even found a few surprises in my usual haunts in this late summer - early autumn penumbra.  Clear sky on a Sunday evening allowed a wonderful view of the waxing harvest moon.

I arrived home from visiting my mother to see a wonderful moon above the chimney tops of Chesterton.  The sky was unusually clear so I unlocked my front door, grabbed my camera and was back out before the photo opportunity passed me by.  The moon flared brightly on my screen, but a bit of twiddling with exposure compensation soon had a reasonable picture in the viewfinder.  I took a few shots hoping one would be reasonably free from motion blur.  As it happened all the compensated shots were reasonable, though still a little overexposed.  I didn't think to go to full manual at the time, I am too used to having to snatch transient opportunities these days.  Fortunately post processing made a good job of dealing with what I had.

Waxing harvest moon, taken on an unusually clear evening 7th September 2014.  The moon, a 'super moon', was full on the 9th.

I finally caught up with a couple of late flowering plants.  There are few plants that come into bloom in August and I didn't see any of them.  As it happened some were there all the while and fortunately are still in bloom in early September.

The first of these late flowering plants was mint.  I had seen what I thought might be mint at the Visitor Centre.  A second visit proved that it was indeed mint, though I was unsure whether it was wild or part of a planting scheme.  A few days later I found more mint, this time at the bend in the Apedale Road.

It is perhaps not surprising that I had missed the plant before as I tend to hurry by this heavily littered area and anyway, everything there is covered in a thick layer of dust.  Taste and leaf shape identified the mint as Spearmint.

The Visitor Centre mint has slightly rounder leaves (pictured left), but made a better photograph.  I am going to start carrying a soft brush in my pack in the future I think, there have been a few times when I could have done with giving a plant a dusting.


The second of the late flowering plants was more of a surprise.  I often wonder that I have not seen heather in Apedale.  I assumed that conditions also suited other plants that can out compete heather.  I had even spent Sunday morning on Bosley Cloud just to see heather in bloom.  It was ironic then, that I found a small patch of heather (pictured left) in Miry Arena, on my doorstep as it were, that same afternoon.

I was lucky to see the heather at all, some idiot/s had dug a hole close by to build a cycle jump in the middle of the footpath.  It beggars belief that someone had lugged a spade there with the express purpose of damaging the environment and inconveniencing users of the footpath.  Unfortunately this is just one more example of damage and nuisance caused by those who insist on cycling where it is not permitted.


Another plant that I might have expected, but had not seen, is Devil's Bit Scabious.  This attractive flower is common in areas of nearby Bateswood in an environment that is mirrored by parts of Apedale.  I have now found quite a large patch of this plant growing along the track just opposite the entrance with the steps to Miry/Burgess' Wood.

The reason I had not noticed this plant here before, was that the colour is not dissimilar to that of some thistles and knapweed.  The patch I have found (pictured left) is some way back from the path and is behind a good growth of those latter two plants.  At first glance it just appears that the foreground is fading out.  Closer inspection reveals that there is an actual change in colour and plant type.


I was passing the entrance to Watermills Wood from the Apedale Road one evening when I caught a movement in the corner of my eye.  I had the camera raised and took a quick 'insurance' shot.  Exposure compensation was required and leaves and twigs confused the auto focus so I quickly switched to manual before making a second attempt.  My target ran along branches to the other side of the road, I managed to aim and refocus in time for a last shot.  The late low sun and the tree cover meant that my shutter speed was down to 1/25th of a second, rather below the 1/2000 recommended at the focal length I was using.  I was pretty pleased later to find that I had a usable picture of a rather cute squirrel.

A grey squirrel - Sciurus carolinensis (Eastern Gray Squirrel).  Looks like a chestnut in its north and south, but I don't know of any thereabouts.

It is not only green plants that fruit in autumn, fungi is really starting to get going.  A lot of the fungi appears at the side of the path and unfortunately tends to get trampled rather quickly.  I managed to record a couple of specimens before they were broken up.  Meanwhile, in the middle layer, in the hedgerow above, hips on the dog rose glow as if red hot.

Left: Shaggy Ink Cap (Coprinus comatus) more shag than ink here, more ink than shag when I saw it the next day.  Right:  Common Yellow Russula (Russula ochroleuca),

Above: Hips on Rosa canina, a glowing red in the hedgerow.

My patience was rewarded when I took up position near my favourite hawthorn one evening.  I had heard birds on my approach, I was hoping that if I waited quietly and patiently, birds that had departed on my arrival might be tempted to come back.  Sure enough, after a few minutes that was what happened.  First, Long Tailed Tits moved in and hopped and swung in the upper branches.  Later the long tails moved off en masse and Great Tits moved in, though the latter preferred less exposed branches.

Left: Long Tailed Tit perched high up on my favourite hawthorn.  Right: Great Tit perched in a not quite so conspicuous spot.

I was also lucky enough to see a Buzzard patrolling Miry Arena.  It was at some distance and flying high so there was no chance of a close up.  It did hang around for some time which gave me an opportunity to practise keeping a moving bird in frame.  This is hard enough any way at large magnifications, but is made even harder when the target temporarily disappears while the auto focus is ranging.  Of course, if you let the bird out of the field of view then the camera never will focus and it will be hard to find the target again.  At long focal lengths 'infinity' is considerably farther than a bird at a useful distance, so fixing focus won't do.  I have found that making focus default to infinity does help, this makes it much easier to find the target in the first place.  I am slowly learning to predict movement well enough to keep tracking a temporarily invisible target.

I also spent some time over at the large pool to the south east near Milehouse.  I was hoping to catch the herons I had seen there or, failing that, the coots that I had seen on my last visit.  I saw fishermen as I approached so knew there was no chance of seeing the herons this time.  There were a couple of moorhens but there was no sign of the coots.  I took up a position in the reeds on the Loomer Road side of the pool, a position that had been occupied by fishermen last time I came, and waited.  I was a surprised to see a variety of dragonfly, I didn't know there were any here at all.  I managed to get a few shots, I was pleased to get some of Common Darters ovipositing.  It is a shame that users of this pool seem to leave even more litter than users of the Springwood fishing pool.

Left: Common Darter (male) and right: A pair of Common Darters ovipositing.  I also saw a Brown Hawker, Common Hawker, Southern Hawker and a pair of Emerald Damselfly.  Quite a variety for an area that I did not know had dragonfly at all.


While activity may not be so colourful or obvious as it is in spring and early summer, there is still an awful lot going on in the world of nature.  Some change is gradual and almost unnoticeable, other change is more obvious as anyone who has seen the 'snowstorm' caused by wind catching willowherb seeds will testify.  Some plants will quite literally go out with a bang as their seed pods open like fire crackers, others will catch our eye with brilliant light effects.  I think I may have to update this blog more frequently than twice a month. 

Going out with a bang.  A veritable firework display where these thistle seeds catch the light.