26th August 2023

On By Mick CanningIn birds, seasons, trees, weather

I tested one of the few apples on our tree in the middle of the month to see how ripe it was, and it came away from the branch easily. We shouldn’t be picking apples in mid-August, surely? But it’s a poor year, too. There are barely a dozen apples on the tree, whereas last year we must have had at least five times as many. And our crab apple, usually weighed down with fruit which we leave in situ for the birds over winter, is almost equally bare. Our neighbour’s Rowan tree looks beautiful, although Rowan trees always do, but it definitely has fewer berries on it than usual. Our Hazel tree also seems to have far fewer nuts than last year.

And in the wild?

Bit of a mixed bag, really. Some of the hazel trees near us are fairly heaving with nuts, while others have very few. The oaks have a good crop of acorns, but nothing on last year when the woodland floor was covered an inch or two deep. But last year was a spectacularly good mast year. This year the hawthorns have a decent amount of berries but nothing special, much like the elders, while the hollies seem to be loading up with a whole mass of them. That, at least, is the picture in my little corner of South East England. Last winter was quite mild. But even should we have a harsh winter this year, the outlook for wildlife seems not too bad from the nuts and berries perspective.

These things do often seem to follow a cycle of alternate years, although I don’t know why that should be. I had thought the apple blossom was a little late this year, but I really don’t know whether that’s just my imagination.

On Tuesday evening I went for a short walk. It had been a hot day and earlier I had seen three tiger moths, which was rather a treat. By the time I left the house, though, a little before eight, the air was cool, the birdsong seemed a little louder than usual, and there was a magical light in the sky as the sun disappeared below the horizon. The church clock struck eight as it did so. In the woods, there were now patches of sudden night where the trees grew close together, through which the path could be seen like a pale wisp of misty light. By the time the church clock chimed the quarter hour it was quite dark, although patches of daylight still showed in the clearings. Soon there was so little light I headed out of the woods and homeward.

A few minutes before half past, a mixed flock of jackdaws and rooks flew over, the jackdaws chuckling and gossiping noisily as usual as they headed east towards their gathering place on the edge of the town. There, they will be joined by other flocks and once all are there, just before dark, they will all fly off together to their night’s roost.

Although it is still August, the air already seems to have an autumnal feel to it.

39 thoughts on “26th August 2023”

  3. There certainly is a cycle that nature follows. After years when our acorns, pecans, cypress, and so on produce exceptionally large crops, it’s not uncommon for the next year to be less productive. Weather makes a difference, too; an untimely frost can undo the fruit trees, just as too much or too little rain can wreak havoc. It’s the way of the world!

    I have noticed the days getting shorter, and the movement of the sun now is producing its twice-a-year shining into my windows in the morning. Before long, it will have dropped farther south, and we’ll begin sensing that ‘real’ autumn is on the way.

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    1. It probably all comes down to weather, unless some trees need to rest a little after years producing huge crops. Perhaps it’s a little of both.

      Well, it’s less than a week until September, so it will soon be reasonable to talk of Autumn.

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  5. Hereabouts (Great Lakes region of the U.S.) they’re predicting a good apple crop, there’s pretty big swings from year to year. It was a good summer for black raspberries and mulberries, too. But there seems to be fewer black walnuts raining down on the lawns and parks as I walk around town. Lots of other nuts, though – – we just had the first debate here between DeSantis, Christie, et al.

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    1. Yes, I’ve seen those nuts – a remarkably good crop of them this year. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, year on year those nuts have been becoming more and more common.

      We’re looking forward to a good apple crop next year, now.

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  7. Even though we’re still having hot days here, it does seem like there are hints here and there of a change of seasons. Nothing so obvious as leaves changing (apart from drying out from drought), but that certain something in the evening air.

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  9. Absolutely rubbish for eaters (though the ancient apple in the garden of my son’s new house is groaning) whereas our Bramley crop looks spectacular (rubbish last year!). You just can’t trust Mother Nature, the tricky old bird…

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    1. The blackberries are quite good around here, Dave, but not especially so, Probably just the difference in weather across the UK. I suspect it’s just the usual cycle of good and bad mast years, although there’re plenty of signs of that helter-skelter elsewhere!

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  13. I enjoyed your description of your evening walk. Very atmospheric.
    The change in temperatures must have something to do with a lower yield of apples. It’s been extremely warm here, too,affecting the supply of vegetables and fruits.

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  14. Thanks for sharing the world around you. The apples are harvested in July and August in Himalayas except for higher altitudes. What about SE England? The trees and fruit you describe, I hope I can see them with fruits someday as they don’t exist in the climate around here.

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