Sunset Silhouette

Discovered this harshly pruned tree, along with many others, a couple of months back in a large field whilst cycling home from work along a quiet english country lane close to where I live.

I found the shape to be really striking and pre-visualised how this might look at sundown as a silhouette and so I planned a return visit when I thought the light might be good enough.

Didn't pay much attention to how many other trees were similarly savaged or to the netting placed over some nearby hedgerow; odd at the time but not registering.

I'm pleased to say that I captured this tree last week in all it's splendour against the rapidly darkening after-sunset sky; you've got to love the golden hour!

Sadly I've since learned that this tree, along with many others and the netted hedgreow, are soon be cut down/dug up to make way for a new road that will come this way in the next few months.

I feel strangely saddened by that fact and now the penny has dropped i realise the full impact of what this will mean: more traffic, more noise, more pollution, not to mention the impact on the local area.

It's the impact it will have on the wildlife that bothers me more than anything, truly it does. Mice, voles, birds, squirrels, badgers, foxes, insects; the list goes on.

To reinforce this point more than anything is that as i was rejoicing in getting the shot I had envisioned for some time, and truly loving the peace and quiet in that moment, I turned around to find a barn owl sitting on one of the dead branches casually observing me with it's bright and wise old eyes. A thrilling and moving moment at the time because he obviously knew something that I didn't - he was soon to be made homeless by someone like me. And they call this 'progress'; I think not :-(