Taking a Step

I actually went for a very short walk this evening.  It's a step for me, because at the moment it's hard to get out if I'm on my own.  I managed to have a long chat with a neighbour before I started the long walk and apparently there are foxes around.  I shall have to keep an eye out.

As I have said before, I live in a mixed up area.  If I stand at the top window I can see very expensive houses, inexpensive social houses, warehouses, small shops (plus Matalan, a large clothing shop), units where things are built and farms, so I suppose all sorts of wildlife are possible.  I've seen herons and finches, but I've not yet seen a fox.  I daresay it's getting fat on the local rats.

I saw an article on the BBC that said that autumn was early this year (which I can't now find).  Apparently it's due to the very dry spring.  I took these pictures tonight, August 25 2017.

I would normally expect to see the blackberries, hawthorn berries and crab apples in mid to late September.  Some of the leaves are definitely showing signs of changing.  There's quite a heavy crop of berries as well.

I'll have to get some more photos tomorrow, especially of the blackberries as they seem to be cropping very heavily this year.  Lots of berries are supposed to mean a hard winter.  I shall wait and see.