WOLs, Flowers and Trees

Walking through one of the town's shopping centres this morning, we were surprised to see on display several WOLs (aka owls if you don't live in Hundred Aker Wood. These birds had been brought by members of the Barn Owl Centre to raise public awareness.

Here is another fine bird, with snow-white front feathers.

And this one seems similar to that in the main picture, but is definitely different, since I saw both at the same time!

Now for a change of subject (although we stay geographically within a few hundred metres of the WOLs). I realised that it is 46 years to the calendar date since I took up my posts as a member of the Academic Staffs of my university and my college. It was an opportune moment to go through the college (that's the official reason, although the lure of coffee there was the true one!). Since we are approaching the Michaelmas Quarter Day, I was delighted to see great clumps of bright Michaelmas Daisies like these.

Those daisies seem bright enough, but these deep purple ones are quite startling!

Back on 14 September, my Blipfoto entry had a link to this great plane tree, said to be the largest in Britain.

Largest it may be, but I explained in my description that the oldest such plane tree is probably the one in the garden of the Priory House, near the cathedral (our college "chapel"). Given where we were, I thought that it was a good opportunity to take a photograph of what is called Pocock's Plane.

The tree has been in this place since the 1640s. The enormous girth of its trunk testifies to its age.