Autumn?
Yesterday I had a wander across the infamous Greenham Common. Cruse missiles have been replaced by cattle and Exmoor ponies. Bunkers have been replaced by heathland and shallow gravel ponds.
The ponies seem to be growing fluffy winter coats and the hawthorne bears extravagantly abundant fruit. It seems early in the season for this preparation for winter, especially after the lateness of Spring this year. Traditionally this means a hard winter but I can't help wondering if there's something they know that we won't acknowledge. Like......
THE END OF THE WORLD IS NIGH!!!
Sorry about that. But did you know that Horse Chestnut Trees are going down like nine pines under the attack of some new blight. It's possible they will disappear from our landscape as thoroughly as the Elm. And even faster. Show your children some Horse Chestnut trees this autumn...if there are any left...and show them conkers. They may be the last generation to see any. Look at any of the hedgerows and woodland silhouettes when you go into the countryside. The dead limbs of oak trees spike up into the sky everywhere. They are fighting a variant of Dutch Elm disease and there are more dead oak trees every year.
I heard once that under desparate stress or trauma, tree grow little shoots along their trunks while the tall tops die off. Look at the big trees and you'll see knobs and gnarls all along the big branches and up the trunks, whiskered with 'fear shoots'
You don't care about trees? You're a city bird? You like breathing though, don't you?
And, right on cue, the heron leaves, flapping slowly with great effort to lift himself from the ground.
8 comments:
That's a serious bummer about the trees. We've had the same type of thing attacking pine trees near here.
Great photos Mig! Love the shot of the ponies..vicious little imps. ;)
Beautiful shot of the heron--beautiful shots PERIOD.
And I had the Brit translate for me. LOL I got to hear great tales of conker games and hardening them by baking them in vinegar so they wouldn't break first.
Personally, it sounded like it could have been a really PAINFUL game, should someone miss the conker!
Poor trees.
Makes me sad....and it leaves me wondering.....
oh what fabulous photo mig!
the colour of the horses - so rich and luscious. . . (I'm not big on animals, but that photo makes me want to go up and stroke them)(if that's what you do to horses)
the colour of the hawthorne (if only it had been rosehips - that plump, could have made jelly or jam out of them)
we have conker trees literally on the school doorstep; the little two spend hours battling with their mates over best pickings - can't believe they could be about to be subjected to a blight? can't we innoculate them or something?
or maybe it's just nature's ways of clearing the decks everynow and again, and in the natural life span of a forest it is kind of OK (or would have been centuries ago) but it doesn't seem right in a human lifespan, and especially not our generation with all the rest of the damage we are inflicting on the environment right now
hmmm
great post, thanks
love the heron flying off at the end. . .
Emminante doom:
AUGH!!! SCARRY!!!
but oh soo sad! :"[
If I were a God
I would wipe Man
off the face of
the earth too!~
The pics`again`fantastic! Luv the horses mig! U have captured their essence!
:)
We've got a tiny Horse Chestnut sapling just beginning to grow in our garden - a squirrel "planted" it last year. We've been nurturing it and watching over it and it seems to be doing OK at the moment - we could end up owning the only conker tree in Britain if that disease gets a hold. I hate to see trees dying - I think I'll plant a few acorns out there too and do my bit for conservation.
On a lighter note - I love the photos, especially the heron!
wow mig! awesome post.
I have a special affinity toward trees myself. :) we took a boat down the river the other day & saw some white Herons just like that. & across the world, almost.
Indeed, this is very worrying. Fab photos as always Mig.
Pine trees too. Oh dear. Oh and 'Ling', the Scottish heather which used to be used for thatching in the Scottish highlands apparently is being struck down by a disease spreading from England. Time a big national newspaperpaper did a feature I think. (Are there any big international newspapers?).
I wondered about whether there was some sort of Gaiea type sorting of the world's flora and fauna going on...after all the planet does change dramatically from time to time.
It would be sad to lose conkers! Though indeed, it might save a few bruises and scratches :)
We seem to have a plethora of baby oak, ash and hazel trees sprouting all over the garden. I wonder if we should actually become a woodland trust! It'll only be fifty to a hundred years before they completely overwhelm the house!
I love to think about all those places in the world where the same trees and birds thrive and grow. Hoping there will be safe places for them all somewhere.
Worrying indeed. But on the other side of the coin, in Brighton they've managed to save a whole lot of elm trees. I was so excited a year or so ago to discover a dozen or more Elms growing and thriving in the centre of Brighton. (there's a website somewhere). All is not lost.
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