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Autumn on Hilly Fields

It was such a beautiful morning on Hilly Fields today and I couldn’t resist taking a few photographs of the autumn trees.

This is an abandoned nest – possibly a squirrel’s drey – surrounded by autumnal oak leaves.

The silver birches by the tennis courts are just past their best but still worth a look if you’re passing in the next few days. Their drooping leaves and catkins are delicate and difficult to capture in photographs. A native tree, one of the best for wildlife.

Berries of the Whitebeam tree in the north field. Much loved by the Mistle Thrushes in the park, the Whitebeam is native in Southern England and Ireland. The white leaves which are scattered on the grass at the moment can look silvery in autumn and the veins are finely etched . The whiteness is what gives the tree its name, ‘beam’ being an Anglo-Saxon word for tree.

A beech tree, also in the north field, and one of only two in the park. A native tree with many benefits for wildlife. The beech nuts (collectively known as beech mast) are not produced every year and this appears to be a ‘no-show’ year.

A carpet of leaves in the shade garden next to the bowling green.

I forgot to check what species of tree these are, but I like the way their foliage complements the yellow of the bin at bottom left!

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