Hopes of an autumn crescendo of colour
THE first signs of autumn are appearing as the equinox marks the start of the season, with hopes for a crescendo of colour in late October, experts have said.
Dozens of records of silver birch leaves tinting and ripe rowan fruit have been received by Woodland Trust’s Nature’s Calendar citizen science scheme, which asks members of the public to help monitor the changing seasons.
The records, which have been received ahead of the start of the astronomical season of autumn, are on time compared with the 10-year average, the Trust said. This autumn is also delivering a bumper crop of blackberries, which spells good news for wildlife that can feed up on fruit before their winter hibernation, according to records submitted to Nature’s Calendar.
While the first records of horse chestnut trees having fully changed colour are within the expected date range, the presence of the tree leaf miner pest, which causes them to turn early, is thought to be responsible for a number of the records.
The Forestry Commission said the year’s weather so far could lead to an extended display of autumn colour.
The warm dry spring will have slowed down the production of sugars which produce autumn reds, golds and orange.
But the wet summer will have helped trees to catch up.
A spokesman said: “Our experts are hopeful that a crescendo will come around the last two weeks in October.”