Of mists...

...and mellow fruitfulness. Yep, autumn is just about upon us and John Keats tells us what to expect. Where are the days of spring? Aye where are they now?

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too -

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river sallows, borne aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;

Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft

The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

So, photographically how has August been? Well not to different to July really but some cool species have been found and some landscapes produced of which I am proud.

Agrimony

Broad-leaved helleborine

Common cudweed

Eyebright

Hare's-foot clover

Kidney vetch

First of my life ticks...maiden pink

Second life tick - Spanish catchfly

Spiked speedwell

Vervain

A delightful first part of the day and some lovely species. Thanks to the warden at Weeting Heath NNR for showing me maiden pink, I am just blown away by the colour.

After the successful first part of the day, I went to the Devil's Dyke near Newmarket...

The gorgeous chalk-hill blue butterfly - again the colour is just beautiful. However, they do have some not so attractive habits. Below are several feeding on dog faeces... a trait shared by many butterfly species.

Not forgetting places closer to home, I looked around my garden and the neighbouring orchard and found...

Migrant hawker, resting just outside the back door.

Parasol toadstools, trooping in the orchard...

And then a trip to the Fen...

Bankside vegetation - purple loosestrife and sneezewort amongst others...

Branched bur-reed

Creeping thistle

Juvenile blackbird

Sedge warbler

Autumn dew on spider's web

Trifid bur-marigold

Wild Angelica

Again, a good trip with some lovely early morning light and some equally lovely, fenland species.

Lucy and Quinn made yet another trip out to the continent this summer - another in their art trips around the major European cities. This time their destination was Madrid...

Three of my favourite images from Lucy's little Fuji (processed by yours truly)

Toledo... just look at that sky

Quinn... an art historian in the making.

The final trip this month was out to the coast - Snettisham to be exact for a walk on the beach. I managed to find some cool plants - bonus...

Carline thistle

Shingle ridge habitat

Snettisham beach

Yellow-horned poppy - Image of the month...

Corizus hyoscyami

Sea aster

Sea campion

Sea spurge

Sales from the agency I supply have increased this month - which is always a winner, so if you are ever in the market for any images then look no further than here... and have a look at what I have for sale. 
a summer of unfulfilled promise; of a hot start that didn't really come to anything; of planned shoots that didn't happen due to rain; of dragonfly populations cut short by voracious sparrows; a trip to the Brecks resulted in new plants seen and photographed, yet something was missing...something wasn't right. Not sure what though.  On a personal level it has also been an interesting Summer - old returned friends continue to delight, old estranged friends continue to drift away, new friends continue to entertain and frustrate in equal measure. I have also started to play golf again after a break of about 9 years. A sport I played from 9-17 before I gave up to play cricket; started again when I was 40 only to stop again when I was 42. I can't think of a better way to spend a day...So, photographically how has August been? Well not to different to July really but some cool species have been found and some landscapes produced of which I am proud.I hope you all have a great month and I wish you all love and peace in all you do. What the world needs now is love sweet love, it's the only thing there is just too little of... don't forget.TTFN