Wednesday, October 31, 2007

October 31 - 8 days since the heading picture - Real change since yesterday

For the first time since I have been photographing the tree every afternoon, I have noticed a real change since the day before.

Today the tree is looking distinctly more orangey than yesterday (see the post below). I was quite a cold night last night and the night before and maybe that is what is making the difference. Also, as a harbinger of things to come, I found the first bare branch - only a tiny one. But there will be more to later.

I've added a couple of pics from the leaf litter and area round the base of the oak. And a close up of the leaves.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

October 30 - First week gone



Todays picture is above

How many more weeks to go? My guess is four more will do it. But we'll see. The changes have been small so far but you can definitely see them. A definitely browner tinge all over caused by a lot of individual leaves turning brown.

This was a week ago - distinctly greener!

And hooray! We have caught up with today. So now there will be time for a bit more interesting stuff. As I research things like what lives around the oak. Why leaves change colour and what happens to them all over winter. Here are the pics. Or there would be if Blogger was working properly!!

Here are some of the leaves that have turned

October 26, 27,28, 29 Small changes, cloudy days





Changes are pretty slow and most of the changes you see are really changes in the lighting on the different days. But slowly by slowly the colour is changing. October 30 - the next post marks the first week and you can start seeing the leaves beginning to change just here and there.

The first photo is now always at the top of the blog so that you can immediately compare it with today's picture of the tree. Each week I will try to publish a weekly change at at the end I hope to produce a stop motion video of the whole process and post it here or on You Tube.

Monday, October 29, 2007


October 25
Another dull day and little change to be seen in the leaf colour.


October 24

Dark autumn day. But really no difference to the leaf colour. Our oak is still green though many around it have started to turn.




More pictures of our tree
Here are a few more pictures of the tree taken on October 23. It's out on it's own so the
spread is huge, about 50 yards or so. Trees in woods have a much smaller spread and longer straighter trunks. Animals graze underneath it and that is why there is a nice clear space at the bottom. The cows and horses eat any branches that come down below about 6 ft. Trees in parkland often grow right down to the ground. The circumference of the trunk is huge too , if you're into tree hugging it would take about half a dozen people to get round it touching each other's hands.

Down below the tree is the leaf litter in the long low autumn light. It is this splash of colour at the bottom that makes autumn woodlands look so different. Sometimes the leaf litter looks brighter than the sky.


Sunday, October 28, 2007

Oak Tree in Autumn
October 23
This is an oak tree, about two hundred years old. Over the next five or six weeks the leaves will turn to orangey brown, fall off and leave the tree bare. Day by day this blog will publish a picture of the tree from the same position and we can watch the changes. I hope it will be an interesting process for me and for anyone out there reading this.