The Beech

A short walk first thing pre-breakfast and whilst J got sorted. The light as the sun rose was wonderful, so I was glad I made the effort as the rest of the day has been grey and cloudy.

My two favourite trees for autumn colour are the beech and the birch. The beech for its copper hues as the leaves turn from green to golden, and the birch for its delicate yellow tones and the graceful form revealed as the leaves fall away.

This beech still has a lot of lightening green leaves, but is turning. It has been a mast year (as well as an acorn year), so underneath is a mass of husks and mast providing a food store for all sorts of creatures. I hadn’t realised until watching autumn watch last week that beech trees synchronise mast years across their entire range, which stretches for thousands of kilometres. How do they do that ?