Here where I live, there are a couple of things which signify autumn is approaching...



Pumpkins!

and



Dahlias!

What makes you think "It's autumn"?

Kingfisher

I can always feel autumn on its way when you start to notice the days getting shorter again, and that there are some leaves on the trees starting to turn.

As a child we always used to go and catch twelve falling leaves in the autumn as soon as they started to fall, one for each month of the year.

Gee, that's a lot of pumpkins. And I love the field of Dahlia's; I could sit looking at something like that for hours and never get tired of spotting something new.

For me it's definitely the changing colour of the leaves. I live in a valley with a view over the houses to the opposite wooded hillside, so the trees are one of the first things I see in the morning . Another sure sign of autumn is the distinct chill in the early morning air. It's then that I look forward to long walks, as you no longer have to contend with the tiring heat of summer.

It's strange, but here where I am there is not really a lot of autumn colour. We have Vine Maples, which do turn a beautiful scarlet colour, but the evergreens dominate our landscape. The eastern United States, of course, have the striking 'fall foliage' displays.

Kingfisher

As well as the change of colours in the trees here, it definitely has to be conkers that make autumn, autumn. We used to collect them when I was little. There must be hundreds of conker trees round my area and it's quite often that you'll even get hit on head by falling conkers

As well as the change of colours in the trees here, it definitely has to be conkers that make autumn, autumn. We used to collect them when I was little. There must be hundreds of conker trees round my area and it's quite often that you'll even get hit on head by falling conkers

There are just a few Horse Chestnut trees around my area, but I can certainly see where falling conkers could be quite hazardous!

Kingfisher

Yes, I've encountered a few incidents where I have been hit by conkers - no major injuries as yet

Playing conkers in the school playground used to signify autumn was here when I was younger, even if I didn't think about it too much then! I'm not even sure conkers are allowed in most schools anymore because of health and safety reasons

Ah, the memory of playing conkers in the schoolyard. And who will ever forget the pain of being wrapped across cold knuckles by a poorly directed shot... :ouch!

Trying to find a new way to toughen up a conker used to be quite exciting, although I'm not sure they used to do much good. Soaking in vinegar was a popular one, but I never used to do that well no matter what I did!

I love the photo of the dahlias!
And then so many pumpkins!

Here, the bracken is slowly turning a golden/brown.
If I remember correctly it turns brown in stages usually, from the bottom upwards, and it is the leafy part at the top that turns golden last. I am always surprised by the stages part of it and that some of it can be green and brown at the same time, but thinking about it, the leaves on the trees turn colour in stages too, don't they?

On the fells, in the late summer some of the bracken had begin to turn golden but the heather hadn't turned purple yet! So the bracken seemed to be turning early and the heather was blooming later than normal!

And even now, I still like to spot the fallen conkers!

I will have to look at the bracken here. I've never really paid much attention .

Kingfisher

Autumn for me always starts when the Beech leaves start to turn - & they have too! Plus when the sun shifts further to the left, in Summer it sets behind the Ash tree, in Winter it sets behind the middle of the woods & the colours of the sky change too - in Summer the orange is more vibrant, in the Autumn the colours begin to fade, but the clouds become more spectacular:

You just don't see skies quite like that in Summer!!!!

Oh.....what a fantastic photo!

Your remark about the skies reminds me of watching television programmes, and being able to identify where they were made by the atmosphere.

If anyone remembers the show MacGyver, it was supposedly set in Southern California. It was actually filmed in British Columbia. I could tell even without reading about it, because the sky in British Columbia is 'softer', with the skies in Southern California being much harsher.

Kingfisher