early autumn in nature this year?

[Duncan McAlister]

I've noticed the trees starting to turn around here as well. Bizarre during 29C temperatures!

[simshady]

Actually there's much riper ones, some are ready to eat already. From another bush today

 

 

 

Also the long grasses have lost their green and turned a lovely golden colour. Does anyone know what butterflies these are, there were masses of them clinging to the tops of the grass in this patch. Came in different shades and the topside of the wings were blue.

 

 

Great photographs! They look like Silver studded blues. Lots of blues have those type of marks on the underwing.

[DeepSnow]

Similar can be said around here, noticed the birch and maple trees along with a few others are on the turn, the rowan and oak in our garden however show little if any sign of changing yet with the oak having had a good growth spurt this year! 

[Bobby]

Great photographs! They look like Silver studded blues. Lots of blues have those type of marks on the underwing.

 

That looks like the one, thanks. Seems they are a rare butterfly and the maps don't have them as existing here.

[Azazel]

things are definitely on the turn here, i always notice a hedgerow on the route to work, and it has already taken on a very orangey hue. Sad times

[Polar Maritime]

Yes Autumn is certainly in the air here now, The wild flowers on the lane sides are starting to brown and finish, It's so close now i can smell it, And it can't come soon enough.. 

[Azazel]

I'm still waiting for that first "moment" where i can smell/sense autumn in the air. Although i'm a summer person and always moan about Winter, i do find the approach of Autumn and Winter very exciting and nostalgic.

[Polar Maritime]

I'm still waiting for that first "moment" where i can smell/sense autumn in the air. Although i'm a summer person and always moan about Winter, i do find the approach of Autumn and Winter very exciting and nostalgic.

 

Yes I love the run-down to Winter, Watching nature die back and the Wildlife prepare. It's such a drastic change to the landscape with everything getting stripped back.

[Azazel]

I absolutely love the Autumn "smell." The smell of bonfires, fireworks, wet leaves? I love the foggy and misty mornings and evenings, the cleaner air. I even love for example, being in the pub and going outside for a cigarette when its freezing cold. I love looking up at the stars in Winter (I live at the top of a village so no light pollution) I just don't like months of slate-grey skies, driving wind and rain. Snow is beautiful as are cold and crisp Winter mornings. - This summer, my hayfever has been another level of horrendous, verging on full-blown asthma. Hmmm, maybe I am a Winter person afterall:p

[Cleeve Hill]

Actually there's much riper ones, some are ready to eat already. From another bush today

 

 

Also the long grasses have lost their green and turned a lovely golden colour. Does anyone know what butterflies these are, there were masses of them clinging to the tops of the grass in this patch. Came in different shades and the topside of the wings were blue.

 

   

That looks like a large blue, one of the rarest butterflies in the U.k have a look at the butterfly conservation website as they have good info on identifying butterflies.

In our garden we have have fewer butterflies this year on the buddleia bushes which I put down to the trees flowering earlier this year, and probably ahead of the main butterfly period.

[damianslaw]

Plenty of berries on the rowan tree - not sure when they usually appear, but they do appear early this year.

 

My honeysuckle is in blossom again - last year its second blossom occurred in September - it is a month earlier this year.

 

Compared to last year when everything was very late thanks to the cold late spring, things are definitely in a much earlier advanced state this year.

 

Conditions for growth have been ideal this year - it was a very early start to spring and whilst temps have been consistently above average ever since there has been decent falls of rain- its been hard work battling the weeds, and grass growth has gone through the roof!

[simshady]

My pumpkins, tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs are all doing fantastically this year. The apple tree is also  brimming with fruit and everywhere I go the brambles are burdened with blackberries..

[James M]

Actually there's much riper ones, some are ready to eat already. From another bush today

 

Also the long grasses have lost their green and turned a lovely golden colour. Does anyone know what butterflies these are, there were masses of them clinging to the tops of the grass in this patch. Came in different shades and the topside of the wings were blue.

 

   

 

Asked some experts on this site http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk about the Blue butterflies. They're Common Blues, a female on the left and a male on the right

[Jax]

Seeing a bumper harvest, not sure it is miles early or anything, just "on time" for a change, local hedgerow is holding a good potential crop of blackberries, just a race now to see if they ripen and can be picked before the council hack them away first.

[damianslaw]

There is a tree I think it is a horse chestnut which always sees its leaves turn much earlier than other trees I usually see around these parts, but it isn't usually until late August it turns, this year it started turning a week ago with vivid red colours - another sign autumn appears to be starting earlier in nature this year..

 

Blackberries are now fully ripe again about 2-3 weeks earlier than usual. Hazelnuts are also in abundance.

 

As I said if we see a mild autumn don't be surprised to see spring bulbs out in late November - expect the inevitable headlines - this isn't unusual years such as 1994 saw daffodils and crocuses out in late November thanks to the very mild Autumn.

 

I'm never quite sure what nature reacts to the most - temperature or length of daylight.. or simply just time itself, everything has its natural time cycle so it something flowers earlier than usual then you would expect it to go dormant earlier than usual. Last year saw a very late spring and a late autumn which lasted well into November.

[fUnKy]

Picked elderberries and blackberries yesterday for wine. South facing bushes are probably over ripe and berries drying out but north facing still to fully ripen and in between was where I took my bounty. This is bucks.

[laserguy]

Picked elderberries and blackberries yesterday for wine.

 

Me too - 3 gallons in the 'john! Up here, that's a good 4 weeks ahead of time... incredible. Can only mean one thing - Ice Age II this winter !

[fUnKy]

Me too - 3 gallons in the 'john! Up here, that's a good 4 weeks ahead of time... incredible. Can only mean one thing - Ice Age II this winter !

Mine are in the freezer.. forgot to buy some steriliser.. but nice and early so may not have to move the bin somewhere warm to start it off.. found a ton of sloe bushes too.. first hard frost and I'll be having them.. plenty to keep us warm before the ice age kicks in.

[Turnedoutniceagain]

Looks like an awesome crop of elderberries, blackberries, damson & sloe this year. Hedgerow gin, here we come !!

[laserguy]

Looks like an awesome crop of elderberries, blackberries, damson & sloe this year. Hedgerow gin, here we come !!

 

If 'we' disappear from these forums sometime 12 months hence, it'll be due to acute liver failure...  Anyway not only are the elderberries stupidly early but when I picked mine their quality was perfect - huge,fat black berries weighing the branch down, not one of those years where you're stood looking at them and wondering of they're ready or going to be enough. Next week I'll be harvesting what looks to be up to 3Kg (dried weight!) of First Gold hops - they too are a month forward.

[TonyH]

Been picking the lovely Blackberries in our garden for 2 or 3 weeks now, and still they come, they followed on nicely from the July Raspberries

Swifts departed first week of August bar the odd chick still around until August 11th (pretty late).

Hirundines may be struggling recently with the cool conditions as there seems to be much fewer flies now.

[snowy weather]

Is there any link between early berries and a cold winter?

[gary1365]

no nature is reactive rather than proactive it's just a result of the warm spring/summer

[The PIT]

no nature is reactive rather than proactive it's just a result of the warm spring/summer

combined with plenty of water at times.

Very poor crop of Rowan Berries on my neighbors tree this year. My buddlia has finished and leaves are growing yellow and I saw the first hint of Autumn in Clumber park today. Sycamore trees seem full of seed and with temperatures more akin to late September than August we should see an early autumn if the weather continues in the same theme.

[Bobby]

Asked some experts on this site http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk about the Blue butterflies. They're Common Blues, a female on the left and a male on the right

 

Thanks, I thought they were common blues also after some research. Apparently the white smudge on the wings distinguishes them. Still loads of them about.

 

The heathlands around here are a sea of purple heather flowers the past two weeks or so. Lovely smell as you walk past. Swarming with honey bees too which is good to see after the problems they're having. No pesticides used on these wild heathlands, maybe that's why.

Edited August 22, 2014 by Bobby