Shiny rose hips

Rose hips

It may have been a poor year for fruiting for many plants, but not for this rose bush growing in Barley Field.

Post number 2000: Autumn scene, West Park

Autumn scene, West Park

View across the floral bed to a large tree whose leaves were just beginning to turn autumnal at the end of last month.
With this post, the number of posts has reached 2,000, with at least one post a day since September 2009. There have been more than 3,500 photos and 35 short videos, almost all taken within a day’s round trip travel of Wolverhampton.

I don’t feel any nearer to exhausting the range of subject matter than I did when the blog started.

Spider in a sunlit web

Spider in a sunlit web

Cross spiders are a common species in gardens. There are lots of them about at this time of year.

This one was easy to spot because the sun was catching its web, which still held some drops of water after overnight rain.

Young blackbird on a wall

Young blackbird on a wall

The rather odd appearance is of a young blackbird  just about to get its adult plumage (about six weeks ago).

Yellow crab apples

Yellow crab apples

Crab apples from a tree on the fringe of Barley Field, with just a hint of reddening in their mainly yellow skins.

Sloe alone

Sloe alone

This year has been a very poor one for many fruits and berries.

A few days ago, I went to the edge of the Barley Field in the Smestow Valley Nature Reserve. There’s a patch of blackthorn bushes there.

At this time of year they are usually covered in ripening sloes. This was the only one I could spot.

Autumn fallings

Autumn fallings

A pine cone and a sycamore leaf which had taken on autumn colours had fallen close together onto grass.

Coming through the cracks

Coming through the cracks

A dandelion, moss and other plants force their way up through the mortar of a paved path. The plants look like they are the green of spring, but the picture was only taken a few days ago.