Autumn Morning Mist at Marston Moretaine

Click – A Monochrome Alternate View for a few shots in black-and-white

I am not an early bird, more a night-owl, which is my downfall when it comes to capturing the undoubted beauty of sunrises and the dew-laden webs of autumn spiders. Sunday morning I was up early – for me and by foregoing breakfast was able to be out with my camera before the sun had had a chance to burn off the heavy mist, so I walked along the road towards the Nature Reserve, trying to capture some of the charm of the glowing mist before the sun had claimed the day.

We have been lucky that this year the autumn colours have remained with us for longer, due to the absence of high winds alongside the rain, and so there was still colour to be seen in the hedgerows. I even learned of a plot of fenced-off land that will become a graveyard that explained something of the tarmacced walkways in the field opposite the Nature Reserve’s land – the wooden sign giving this information was festooned with the work of numerous spiders beaded with droplets bestowed by the dew.

I entered the Nature Reserve by way of the kissing gate and learned that I was definitely a late guest to the party, as there were cyclists and dog-walkers enjoying the warm morning mist; there was simply no chill to the air and all those I met were warm in their greetings too. I presume the lack of wind was allowing the low-lying mist to enclose the warmth from the previous day and the sun was definitely winning the challenge to clear the air and herald another pleasantly warm autumn day. I used the time to capture what I saw, even though there was nothing to make the heart beat faster, just serenity, and reminders of the year that was passing in the faded green and russet tones of the hedgerows.

Late Autumn at Stockwood

Most trees have now shed their leaves for another year, but if you look carefully there is still colour aplenty, as I discovered yet again on a visit to the gardens at the Stockwood Discovery Centre.
The mild nights of late and the heavy dews have brought out fungi, the added shelter of the walls and trees have kept a few more leaves than elsewhere and this year's weather has resulted in some added richness to the leaves' autumn hues.

There were still a few lone roses to be seen, and the weak sun had not burnt off the dew on many of the blooms. I was fortunate once again to be allowed to visit the greenhouse, so the gallery of pictures was augmented by some shots not available to all visitors, though nevertheless I still feel that even this late in the season, a stroll around this venue is extremely rewarding.