Coombe Wood walk.

I misjudged the weather and I could have done with my large umbrella at the beginning of my walk. The zoom on my camera started being temperamental this morning - one month and two days after the guarantee ran out. (Typical.)

Red berries - like strings of Christmas lights.

An iris has opened closer to the path. 

More of the little white flowers I tried to photograph the other day while balancing on a rock - still taken while balancing on a rock but not quite so precariously.

The light mist of rain seemed to have acted as a solvent (is that even the right word?) to release the sweet scent of the mahonia's even more strongly than usual.

Orange iris berries. 

Under the magnolia tree a robin sat on the fence and sang in the rain.

The Korean pine cones (I've only seen two on the trees this year, unlike last year when there were loads of them) are beginning to develop brittle areas as they prepare to disintegrate.

The callicarpa berries are becoming wrinkled.

Orange leaf with red tints

Buds on bare branches

My sister who lives locally also went to Coombe Wood this morning. I had a feeling that she might - and wasn't at all surprised to get a text message asking whereabouts I was. We met and walked together. 

Orange leaves showing up well in the middle of all those evergreens.

The small red acer only has a few leaves hanging on now.

Bright red fallen leaves against the green ivy under the tree.

Saggy old puff ball mushrooms - with darkened warty skin.

A white camelia. Some of the plants seem a little confused by the warm weather.

There are buds are all over this Camelia plant. 

I was looking at a bare shrub commenting on the pale yellow leaves that had been on the tree only a few weeks ago when I noticed some bobbly woody bits - I was about to photograph them when my sister noticed a few had signs of growth around several of them. Looking much closer the growth looked ribbon-like and my sister commented that it looked like the paper you get out of party poppers. Actually it looks more and more like party popper paper the more I look at it - I think I might need to go and have a much closer look when I next get a chance.

The birds were in good voice today - noisy parakeets were squawking above our heads.

Last year there was a semi circle of dinner plate sized mushrooms in a little off the track area - this year there are only a couple and they are only side plate sized at the moment. They have delicate fluted undersides

and from above their edges look like little teeth. 

 Looking up into the leafless snake bark maple branches I noticed an abundance of seeds.

Further along there was a carpet of beech nuts.

I sneaked to the back of the flower bed to get a closer look at how the spindle berries were doing. They're letting down their red berries and black protruding seeds (like little crabs claws) several weeks later than last year.

Tiny scented flowers at the far end of the wide lawn.

A dark fluffy bee enjoying a late treat. 

Old azalea seed pods.

Evidence of the moult - quite a few little white feathers have attached themselves to the newly emerging sticky buds on shrubs.

Big red berries - honeysuckle perhaps?

The gardener has cut back all the plants that have finished in this area.

Passing the prairie beds I noticed more new growth at the base of old stems.

Pampas grass - thinning. 

My sister could see all of the tiny little mushrooms on the long shelter roof among the moss - I could only see them using the zoom on my camera. My sister pointed them out with the end of her umbrella. so I could take a photo of some that I hadn't noticed before.

In the pond there are bright orange fish, some silvery ones and one very bright red one as well as the not so easy to see dark ones.

Thank you very much for joining me.