Great Breach Wood

Autumn Colours – Great Breach Wood, Somerset, UK. ID 823_4582

Today I visited the Somerset Wildlife Trust’s Great Breach Wood on the Polden Hills in the middle of Somerset.  I wanted to check on the progress of autumn.  How were those colours?

Hawthorn Colour

Surprisingly, hawthorn provided the brightest colours.  Just the odd patch on the edge of the glades, but some very deep reds.

Hawthorn Berries – Great Breach Wood, Somerst, UK. ID 823_4593

Hawthorn Colours – Great Breach Wood, Somerset, UK. ID 823_4586

Dragonflies

There were lots of common darters.  They liked to perch high the trees where the low autumn sun still reached.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) – Great Breach Wood, Somerset, UK. ID 823_4604

Butterflies

Peacock, red admiral, comma and specked wood butterflies were still flying around the glades and hedgerows at the edge of the wood.

Peacock butterfly (Inachis io) – Great Breach Wood, Somerset, UK. ID 823_4733

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) – Great Breach Wood, Somerset, UK. ID 823_4733

Its been a fanastic year for the comma butterflies and there were still several feeding on the blackberry bushes.

Comma (Polygonia c-album) – Great Breach Wood, Somerset, UK. ID 823_4794

And Finally…

Sheep sheltered under the trees at the edge of woodland with Gilling Down.

Sheep – Autumn on Gilling Down, Somerset, UK. ID 823_4807