December 2007 started off with a fine day and then all changed to wind and rain. On the 1st December most of our oaks still had their leaves on (1) and (2) but only 7 days later there were no leaves on the oaks at all (3) and (4).

The only bright leaf colours seen were in the hedgerow or on very young hazel and beech saplings. There were plenty of bright coloured bramble (5) and spindle (6) leaves. Most of the hedgerows had their final cut for the winter (7) and the bare branches and twigs were clearly exposing the lichens (8) which make an interest for the winter months.

A visit to Catherington Down on 12th December 2007 - the first real frost of the winter. Amazing ice crystals were seen on the oak and bramble leaves on the lower side of the Down.

HEALTH WARNING - With all the rain we have had this autumn and earlier in the year many of our paths are covered in mosses. They can be extremely slippery. We have had two family accidents in our garden and I have had to relunctantly scrape and grit the paths especially where there are red bricks ! But they do, together with liverworts add interest in the winter and can test out our identification skills. They make an excellent subject for close-up photography since they dont move or run away. Here is a close up of a liverwort called Lunularia cruciata that has rapidly spread over our old red brick path in the last 12 months. The moss, liverwort and lichens web pages are to be updated in the not too distant future.

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Last edit: 11th Apr 2008 at 1:56pm (36 days ago)