Oct 15th Waterloo Park

Waterloo Park

I went for a short walk around my local park this lunch time. It was dry until I entered the gate when drops of rain kissed my face and turned into a short, light shower. It did stop in the end, when I was leaving! The weather did not spoil my walk amongst the falling leaves. The colour change in the leaves is what I have come to see.

Sycamore leaves

When I was last here, the blossom was on the trees and new leaves were starting to emerge. It was a time of new life. It is strange to think that months later all this new life is now coming to an end. The chemicals within the leaves which makes them green and creates the tree's food through photosynthesis are now being extracted back into the tree, leaving unwanted chemicals that produces the multitude of colours that we can see during the autumn. Once a leaf changes its colour, it eventually drops off the branch and falls to the ground.

Autumn has to be my favourite season for this display of reds, oranges, browns, yellows and other colours that form on the trees. When the leaves fall to the ground, they form a carpet which mingle with the leaves from other species and creates this rainbow of autumn colour and shapes. It is a truly wonderful experience to walk through them, kicking them up to fall back down again like leaf-shaped snowflakes.

Cherry leaves

Autumn colour around the bowling green hut

Flower borders still in colour

The avenue of Cherry trees by the park's entrance

Starling

Honey Fungus

Grey Squirrel

Its not just leaves that tumble down from the canopy. The nuts and seeds of the trees join them. This is what the local grey squirrels have been waiting for. They are now ready for them to take away to store for the coming winter months. I watch as they gnaw at them on the ground. Occasionally, they stand upright to check for danger like a meerkat with a bushy tail. It arrives in the form of a dog as it chases them up into the trees. The dog attempts to catch them by jumping against the trunk of the tree, but it is no match for the climbing skills of the squirrels. Squirrels 1 Dog 0.