Late Autumn

As autumn slides into winter, very little changes in Milton Country Park.  The last few leaves drop off the trees adding to a carpet of leaves on the ground which are already rotting away.  The fruit has mostly disappeared from the trees, and the park is beginning to look a bit drab.

By Visitor Centre - 18 December 2015

There are a few flashes of colour in the park, like this tree full of red berries in front of the visitor centre.  It is a testimony to the mildness of the autumn, that the birds have not eaten the berries.

Deep Water - 22 November 2015

Some of the brambles in this park were also adding some badly needed colour to the scene.  At this time, most of the brambles were either still green or turning yellow. A few, like this plant by Deep Water, were, in contrast, turning red.

By Remembrance Meadow - 20 November 2015

Otherwise, the remaining leaves were yellow.  This picture shows the stark contrast between the birch which has already lost all of its foliage and the surrounding hedge where this is still plenty of green to be seen.

South of Park - 25 November 2015

The situation is reversed in this image, an oak tree with all its leaves still green is surrounded by denuded poplars.

By Dickerson' Pit - 9 December 2015

Finally, this picture is a sort of coda for this period in the park: a few remaining yellow sycamore leaves, catch the early morning sun, and stand out against the bare trunks of the surrounding trees.

An Unexpected Yucca

South East Corner of Park - 18 December 2015

As autumn progress, as more and more vegetation dies down, and the trees and bushes lose their leaves, things are exposed that have not been visible during the spring and summer.  I have included this image in this post, simply because this yucca was not visible to the passer by until the nettles had died down and the surrounding trees and bushes had lost their leaves.

Books and Blogs

 

I have added another blog to my list : The Wessex Reiver .  I have been a bit late catching up on this blog, in which the author has just completed a project to photograph the area around his home for a year.  The area he has covered is a bit larger than mine, and features houses and roads as well as more natural features.

I have also got a copy of Hans Strand's book 'Intimate 1'.  If you have read this blog so far, you will be aware that I think the intimate landscape with its restricted range is an excellent way of highlighting some of the beauty and interest in the landscape that otherwise goes completely unnoticed.  This is one of the few books entirely dedicated to this form of photography.

Next: Winter Trees