I'm Following a Tree | August 2015

It's time for the August visit to see how my tree is getting on. I wasn't expecting any significant changes from last month and that's exactly what I found!

The female catkins are continuing to swell in size and the tree is covered in them.  The majority of them are green ...

... but some of them have brown patches.  I don't know if this is an indication that they are further along in their cycle, or whether it is some sort of blight.

Strangely, there appears to still be a few tiny male catkins remaining. 

Next, a shot up through the canopy.  There is no evidence of lost leaves, although some of the trees further down this stretch by the reed bed have dropped some of their leaves already.

Some of the leaves are providing nourishment for visitors to the tree.

It may be ants, as the tree is covered in them; I tried to get a photograph but I failed miserably and just got blurry shots, which I won't bore you with.  I did manage a fairly decent shot of this ladybird.  There were several, but most were too high up or were hidden in the shadows.

 

The new branch is still there but it hasn't grown much since last month.

There is still plenty of peeling bark.  I love the delicate colour on the back of the bark.

One of the younger branches is maturing and is shedding its dark brown bark to reveal the silver inside.

Linking with Lucy at Loose and Leafy.