Impressions of a silver birch forest

We've been having the most unusual weather...today there was a warm southerly wind which raised the temperature to 19C, and a veil of light cloud cloaked the sun, creating the most wonderful soft autumn light.

Unfortunately I spent much of the morning at the computer finishing another report and the an hour or so putting the final coat of paint on the walls of the room I'm currently decorating (a task which had been put on hold as a result of family commitments.)

The weather was just so lovely that Pete and I decided to take an afternoon walk to Holme Fen, though we left it quite late and by the time we arrived the best of the light had gone. I've never seen it looking so dry - many of the paths were just bare dusty peat.

On the way there the Yaxley to Holme Road had clearly been affected by a 'Fen Blow'. If a strong wind gets up during a period of dry weather, particularly when the farmers have recently ploughed their fields, the peat is blown into the air creating something akin to a sandstorm.

I've seen a few blows during my time in the fens, but I've never before seen so much peat deposited on the road - centimetres of it along the road edges, and in some places forming quite large drifts. A photograph of a fen blow in full swing can be seen here. This was taken not that far from the location of the recent one.

The dry weather meant that there were again virtually no fungi, and all the vegetation was looking a bit tired and sad. But a few last rays of sunshine caught the silver birch trunks, and I decided to have a play with panning the camera whilst photographing them, to give a more abstract impression of the wood. This is my favourite effort and hasn't had any manipulation in Photoshop, apart from the minor tweaking of the RAW file.

And I realise I'm still way behind with comments - why did I think I'd have more time in the autumn? You'd think I'd know better by now!!