Sunny Coombe Wood walk

I've really been missing my Coombe Wood walks - I couldn't wait any longer - so this morning I limped and coughed my way around a shorter version of my walk for the first time in over three week - a lot has changed since I was last there last.

I was taking a photo of the drooping gunnera when a voice from the pond said hello. 

It was the gardener. He was working on the pump. 

It must have been very chilly in there - even in waders. 

There is evidence of the gardeners work everywhere - plants cut back, little areas of the flowers beds cleared and dug over, leaves swept away.

Acer seeds silhouetted against the sky. 

Fluffy seeds. 

A few leaves remain on the magnolia. 

All of the Golden Rain Tree leaves have fallen off revealing the pods which hang near the end of the stems like little lanterns.

Some of the plants in the prairie beds have been cut down.

The arching grassy plumes are much more visible since the surrounding plants have been cut down. They remind me of little gentle fireworks which fizz send out plumes of delicate stars.

Looking closely at the crinkly zebra grass seeds. 

A very small birds nest on the grass.

All of the leaves have fallen from the callicarpa now giving a fabulous view of all the berries. I've never seen as many berries on this plant as there are this year.

Just into the edge of the wooded area. Many of the trees are bare now.

But there are still some splashes of colour. 

That "leaf" looked bigger than the rest and the wrong shape.

It was a well camouflaged mushroom growing from a little split in the bark at the base of the tree.

The Acer leaves have nearly all fallen - so many seeds this year. A year of abundance.

A few leaves remain on one of the little acers. 

Seeds everywhere. 

One of the cats joined me for part of my walk. 

 Enjoying looking upwards. 

Spindle berries. 

The big beech tree which lost a branch has shed all of its leaves now.

It looks as if someone has collected some different coloured leaves and made a pattern on the ground - which looked a bit like a tree.

Teasels - lovely curls. 

Clusters of winged seeds. 

In the distance I noticed the sunlight illuminating some berries that I hadn't even noticed when I'd walked past them earlier.

Two plants with very colourful leaves, near the sundial. 

 Willow over the pond. 

Most of the willow leaves have fallen in the pond and been skimmed off by the gardener.

Last year's bedraggled bulrushes and this year's neat and tidy ones just beginning to burst open in a few places.

Sunlight through fluffy seeds.

Spiders web threads and fluffy seeds catching the sunlight. 

There are some parts of the willow tree where the leaves haven't fallen off - they have turned red. I haven't noticed that happening before.

 A last look at the reflections on the pond before I went home. 

And in the overflow car park - which I had used rather than sit in a long line of traffic waiting to turn right onto the main road and across to the normal car park (which was almost empty when I arrived) - some old gnarled trees and some remaining autumn colour against the blue sky.

Thank you very much for joining me.