Autumn in North Wales is glorious this year thanks to a prolonged sunny and mild spell of weather, as yet broken only occasionally by rain. Walking between the trees in the dappled shade of the woodland along sun-striped paths thickly carpeted with fallen leaves in all the shades of the season, has been truly joyful. As October draws to an end, here are some of my views of the month.

 

Ivy is flowering now providing vital supplies of pollen and nectar to late-flying insects.

Ash trees leaves have mostly turned to a bright yellow.

Many have already fallen.

Strings of Black bryony berries are strung between stems of lower-storey vegetation

Oak trees are in varying shades, some still retaining a lot of green where they are in shade while those exposed to more sunlight have turned golden.

Last year there was a national shortage of acorns and here at least it doesn’t look as though this year is going to be any more productive.

Female Yew trees have ripening pink-red berries

On the woodland edges and in clearings there is still plenty to see.

In a sunny spot I watched a gathering of a dozen or so hoverflies. Some were hovering and darting around, others were attempting to bask in the sunshine but were deliberately disturbed by their dive-bombing peers.

On limestone pavement I found Herb Robert leaves that have turned beautiful shades of red

Goldenrod is a favourite late flowering plant

although most plants have set seed by now.

Tucked into a damp sheltered corner where two quarried limestone walls meet, a maidenhair spleenwort fern remains fresh and green.

And of course there are fungi, this is one of the few that I recognise!

And to finish, a corvid feather, just because I liked it.