Not totally off subject I think, and as this is 'Out and about' it might fit.
Hot and sunny here on the extreme South West tip of Wales, it's probably 10 days since any noticeable rain fell and the days have been sunny and warm while nights in the wood have been if not warm, at least mild. (Summer sleeping bag and on a couple occasions a Woobie as extra. )
A couple of days ago in the early hours of the morning, about 01.30 hrs I was awake in bed when I heard a splintering crash in the woods which are about 75 feet from my back door. On a windy winter's night this is not unusual but that night it was absolutely still, so today on my daily woodland wander I checked hoping to find the cause of the night racket.
You will notice that the leaves are only just starting to wilt, and the Foresters have already been busy clearing the path. I wonder why in benign conditions the seemingly healthy branch was shed by the apparently heathy Horse Chestnut Tree? I recall reading long ago about some trees that would shed leaves and branches in times of Drought in order to supply the remaining branches, but as warm and dry as it has been we are not in Drought conditions yet..
The nearby very slightly pink tinted Hawthorn spreads it's perfume for about 50 feet in the warm sunlit air.
