The glorious colours of autumn offer as ever, a visual treat.
Every tree, each trembling leaf poised ready to fall is aglow with vibrant tints ranging right across the colour spectrum. Few artists could recreate on their pallets the shimmering blaze of colour, even outshining the bonfires of hallowe'en and Guy Fawkes which by comparison pale into damp squib-like insignificance.
The last of summer's dragonflies hawk and dart about over dark coloured ponds topped up with recent rains. They defy the first exploratory icy fingers of winter, their red and green tones blending in with fading vegetation, wings reflecting in weak sunshine hues of tree- fringed water over which they hunt.
Large flocks of mixed tit families forage through woodland margins while daddy longlegs fling themselves through open windows. Look too at the squirrels sporting new winter coats edged with russet to match the leaf-strewn grass above which they bound and frolic.
The robin, resplendent in new plumage proudly puffs out his breast singing his territorial song. He challenges the authority of autumn's official colour, cheekily asserting that his plumage matches anything the trees have to offer.
Recent rains hasten the appearance of a multitude of fungi, from the delicate white strands of candle snuff peeping from fallen logs to the gaudy red poisonous fly agaric, the classic 'toadstool' of many a fairy tale.
Yes, Autumn has so much to delight us.
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