Dare I say it but things are starting to feel distinctly autumnal around here. Take yesterday evening for example, a good few degrees cooler than in recent weeks despite clear skies and with the sun now setting behind my oft-photographed “sunset tree”. Just a few weeks ago this perfect alignment wouldn’t have been possible but since then the sun’s trajectory has rapidly narrowed bringing its final resting place much further south. This change also heralds the shortening of daylight hours, something which fills me with dread, meaning it won’t be long now before I’m leaving work in the dark and any sunsets will be right over the Loughor estuary itself. Until then though I shall continue to enjoy fine evenings such as this.
There seems to have been a noticeable change in our local birds as well. Any fledglings have long since grown up and gone their separate ways, returning our garden feeders to some sense of normality. Hirundines too have done a bunk, Swifts vanishing at the beginning of August following several evenings of raucous overhead action with only the odd lingering Swallow or House Martin still present. In contrast Mistle Thrush numbers are slowly building and we enjoyed watching at least six fly over whilst photographing the scene above. Past winters have seen flocks of up to forty or fifty birds roosting on Cefn Drum and I’m expecting the same again this year. More noticeable perhaps is the change in leaf colour. As I write this now the scene before me is one of mixed hues, golden browns slowly seeping in amongst what I’m sure was a sea of green last time I checked. Yes autumn is definitely on the way so make the most of what time we have left before the skies finally fall silent once more and the long nights of winter are upon us.
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