Blackbird at dawn on rowan tree (may have come from the Continent)
Watching Autumnwatch the other night, Chris Packham was so frustrated by the lack of migrating wild birds coming into the UK due to the unseasonably mild weather that he took to throwing the magnetic birds on his migration map on the floor!
An unseasonal poppy
In my garden, there is a perennial poppy which has thrown up a giant red flower, and the honeysuckle is rampaging along the ivy on the back wall.
Honeysuckle
Nearly all the leaves are down though, apart from the evergreen shrubs
The weather veers between clear blue skies one day, see the moon at 9.30 in the morning, and damp and grey like today. England and its weather, a source of constant change and mystification.
Zeb Bakes 
It certainly seems like winter is on its way. But on the other side of the world…things are really warming up and we certainly can’t see the moon past dawn. Stay warm!
Not very wintery here yet, but dark short days give us a clue as to the seasons…
It’s certainly been a funny autumn. My sweet peas and Californian poppies had a resurgence in October and even now some of them are clinging to life on otherwise very dead looking plants.
I like your moon shaped garden seat – must be lovely to sit out in the summer.
That is my shady seat in the summer, under the birch trees. We just took the wooden top off it this summer as it had rotted away and have replastered it and left it solid. I’ll take cushions out in the summer next year. What is it with these poppies? Such a huge determined flower making its way out of the leaves. :)
Your photographs are, as always, lovely and speak volumes.
England’s weather suits me fine- I like soft lighting, misty mornings, grey skies- and instead I have bright sunlight, humidity and HOT weather, and subzero temps in the winter with blinding sunshine off of the snow!
I didn’t mean to go on a weather rant- just love your pictures!
I love your weather rants :) I don’t like the grey skies, I want it to rain or for the sun to come out, a few little clouds like you get on the prairies, mackerel skies, anything but not the blanket grey….. fortunately we are getting variety at the moment so that’s fine with me :)
Here in Ireland the weather is unseasonably mild…more Spring than Winter. Daffodils peeping through already.
Goodness Bridget, I haven’t looked to see if my daffodil bulbs are peeping, but I bet they are! I will have a peek in the morning ….
My begonias are still in full bloom, and the pots along the side of the house look the same as during the summer. My daisies are still in bloom, the pelargoniums, too. I was also surprised to see that green woodpecker in my garden so late into the year. And the garden centre is filled with rock salt, snow shovels, sledges and Christmas decorations. At least the daffodils and tulips are breaking ground yet!
It’s quite good fun isn’t it? – I think I am going to check my daffodils though ;)
It does seem to have been very mild this year, not that I’m complaining – anything that means not sitting in the freezing cold for 35 minutes on a bus to work without heating is ok by me! I’m sure it’s not necessarily a good thing for acriculture and so forth – matters of which I know very little.
My rose is still flowering – lovely! I love your blackbird picture – very atmospheric.
The blackbird was being very artistic that morning – I love them first thing when they visit like that :)
If we don’t get any frost and cold weather we get lots more bugs and slugs in the spring as they don’t get reduced in numbers at all. But I like the mild weather so far too.
A mild season for you – a big change from the past couple of winters! Your photos are very beautiful in their muted shades.. xxx
It’s not over yet…. I think February is often really cold here, we’ll have to wait and see if we get an Arctic blast later. It all depends on where the wind comes from :)
I do love the first photo of the blackbird, although I love actual blackbirds a little less at this time of the year here in Australia. They make a dreadful mess of my garden beds, getting in among the mulch looking for bugs to eat and kicking it all over the place and all over the paths.
Hee hee blackbirds do exactly that in this garden too. We mulched with bark and they throw it everywhere, but at least they eat the bugs when they find them. I like watching them prospecting for worms too, they love this damp weather, the ground is soft and it is easy for them to pull the wrigglers out and up :)
I love the bird.. lovely shot.. and what is that poppy thinking? Hopefully this mild weather (that we are having here as well) is not a precurser to a dreadful winter.. too much moisture in the air if it suddenly dives. ..i need to get up from the fire and rug up then go out to the barn to settle the animals .. it is getting chilly.. c
That poppy is well out of order ;) I haven’t heard a long range forecast for the UK this winter yet. We’ll have to wait and see. The shops are full of boots I notice, more than last year when we were caught napping a bit ….
Gorgeous round moon… actually it kind of looks like my belly at the moment.
I love reading of the seasonal changes through other peoples blogs. Always reminds me that what ever we are experiencing doesn’t last for that long really… (although a hot Australian summer can feel like it does.)
Nic at nip it in the bud is expecting too! Have you ever visited her? I find the seasonal and time differences so strange, I can never quite get used to you all sitting out in your summer clothes while we throw our scarves on and peer through the gloomy mists. I love it when we get to the Equinox and I can tell myself the days are getting longer again :)
What a beauty.
I think it thinks it’s in Texas ;)