Falling gold

the poplars on the Reserve make it feel very autumnal. It's more related to the drought, I think, than the advanced state of the summer. These trees are shedding leaves that glitter in the green boughs of oaks below them, and dangle decoratively on the pine trees' needles.

Mind you, a new generation of fungal bodies does suggest autumn's on the way.

In a willow that had been flooded for much of the year, but is now high and dry, I saw these.

The tree had multiple stems and two of three of them have recently fallen, but remain alive as they are still connected to the roots.

The willows stand taller than the ground around them, as though on multiple short stilts. It's the same sort of adaptation shown by mangroves. My images of this were not great, but these pictures show the exposed roots, and the glorious turmeric tones of the leaves.