Autumn approaching

It seems that, within the past few days, summer has begun to give way to autumn. We are still in mid-August and, although the school holidays are finishing for children in Scotland, their counterparts in England have still several weeks of their holidays to go. (I don't know about Northern Ireland or Wales.)

But the trees have lost their mid-summer lustre, and tinges of brown, red and yellow are beginning to be seen. Where I have noticed the change most, though - and for a couple of weeks now - is in the bushes and hedgerows when out walking along the canal and elsewhere.

I went out for an evening walk along the canal on Wednesday evening and was struck by the number of plants with their berries in different stages of development - some bright red, some yellow or orange and others already brown and past their best.