Sunny days and cold nights make for wonderful autumn colours
It has not been the best of summers but things are looking up. With temperatures remaining high and relatively dry, we’re being treated to amazing golden autumn colours, making for excellent ‘leaf peeping’ says the Woodland Trust.
Dr Kate Lewthwaite, Nature's Calendar expert at the Woodland Trust said: "Even though it’s felt like a wet dreary summer, Nature has had an interesting year. For a starter it has been a wonderful year for berries. We’ve had bumper crops of hawthorn, rowan and elderberries, with plump crops still hanging from the trees, excellent for our feathered friends. And the sunny days and cold evenings have helped trees and woodland to glow with golden colour this season."
Dr Lewthwaite continued: "Harder to believe is that temperatures have been relatively mild and if they continue as expected we'll see wonderful colours throughout November."
With a fantastic autumn already having begun, people have loads of opportunities to get outside and enjoy nature, kick through leaves in some of our fantastic woods and make the most of the outdoors before winter. Who’ll be the one who spots a bizarre spring plant flowering in autumn, or people can just record that the trees in their area are at full tint, we want all of people's autumn sightings, not just the bizarre and unusual. If you spot anything you can record it at www.naturescalendar.org.uk The information provided will be used in real scientific studies; all you have to do is record what you see.
To find amazing woodland colours visit the Woodland Trust’s Our woods to find the nearest autumn woodland www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/woods
With early plump berries, temperatures continuing to stay around the average and an extended growing season, indications suggest autumn is being lengthened, becoming one of the longest seasons in the calendar. Will we see lawns being mown on Christmas Day and will we see spring plants flowering for a second time this year? We’ll have to wait and see what Mother Nature has in store and what people find when they’re out and about.