premature autumn

The horse chestnuts around us in Berlin do not look all that happy (see first extra). They are infected by tiny leaf miner moths (2nd extra). They larvae mine the leaves. The moths have been first described in 1986 and seem to originate in the Balkan. I did find some in Edinburgh in Newington Cemetery a couple of years ago. It's not entirely clear how to deal with them. Various tits predate on the larvae. The most effective ways seems to collect the leaves and dispose of them before the moths can emerge. The infection is a stress factor but the trees survive. More worrying is a bacterial infection. However, I haven't noticed that yet.

My first day at work was mostly devoted to catching up. The air condition is probably set to too cold. I might need to reconsider what I wear.

I I finished book #8, Tintenherz (ink heart) by Cornelia Funke. It's a fantasy story about characters from books being read into our world. I hugely enjoyed the story and am looking forward to reading the next parts in the future.