Shoulder impingement syndrome took me out of circulation for the whole of September and the beginning of October, though for the latter half of that time I was able to get out locally for some short walks with a cabin-fevered collie.
Early autumn is a strange time in the woods. The leaves are only just beginning to turn colour, and when the day is overcast, they're probably at their darkest - dense canopies still, with no long hours of summer light to pierce them.
The fungi are putting on a bright display, though.
Oh, and outside the woods, the Michaelmas daisies are spectacular.
One souvenir of the long, hot, dry summer we had is the sight of trees struggling and falling.
Above, two fallen ash trees on Purdown ...
and another across our path that I couldn't identify because most of it had fallen into a thicket of brambles.
Below the woods in Stoke Park, I noticed one of the landmark oaks had dropped two branches ...
... while an ancient oak I used to visit with my old dog, Ted, is down and out. Going by the colour of the heartwood, it doesn't look as if it fell that long ago; on the other hand, there are no twigs left on it. I have a photo of it in leaf as recently as 2021.
Elsewhere, we encountered a fallen yew on C*lston Hill ...
... plus, a much smaller pair of trees ...
... and a huge beech across the path, all on the Blaise estate.
The damage is similar to what you might expect after a wild storm. True, October has seen Storm Amy, the first of this season's windstorms, but all these trees fell in August and September (with the exception of the ancient oak).
Since driving is one of the most painful things I can do right now, we haven't strayed beyond North Bristol. We've been to Badock's Wood on the River Trym ...
CLOCKWISE from top left: jay, tawny owl, green woodpecker, magpie, ring-necked parakeet
... and we've had a few turns around Blaise.
Between ditches on Kings Weston hill fort ...
... and the very top of hill fort itself
The stone marking the 18th century boundaries of the Blaise estate and the Kings Weston estate
On the south side of Hazel Brook, storm clouds and some magnificent trees.
wasps' nest
It's been an amazing year for mast, and the squirrels have been fizzing and popping all over the place, which is suprising really as you'd think they'd have their gobs too full of acorns to draw breath, like this one at Snuff Mills, who watched me from a short distance for at least a couple of minutes. In the end it was me who looked away first.
Vassals Park
A little downstream, in Eastville Park, we encountered the local heron a few times.
Much like with the big beech across the path at Blaise, a section has now been cut through the hornbeam that toppled into the lake back in January, so people can walk around the lake again without having to stoop under/climb over it. Meanwhile it can still support wildlife, providing perches for fishers and nesting places for moorhens and coots, which is pleasing.
Cwtch by my favourite ash tree on the bank of the River Frome
Now the weather's cooler and the sun less bright, I've been straying from the woods a bit and have taken a couple of turns around Stoke Park on Purdown. It was fun watching hot-air balloons take off and drift east across the city one early morning.
Duchess Pond and the Dower House
The woods still have their allure, though, and we always walk through them to get back to the car.
fox jawbone
Sluggus magnificus
Being out of action for those last few weeks of the summer meant I missed the tail end of the season of falling feathers, with just these few ending up in my clutches ...
CLOCKWISE from top left: jay, tawny owl, green woodpecker, magpie, ring-necked parakeet
... though until the leaves start falling more thickly, there's always hoggin to be found. Lovely to pick things up and stay in the moment.
My favourite bit was this self-decorated sherd at Blaise. It stayed where it was to finish its delicate work.
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