“As winter begins to yield and days lengthen, the tires forest still offers splashes of colour. The intensity and profusion varies by year, but there are always pockets of brightness, reminders of vibrant life past, and promises of life to come.” – Ed Lehming

This winter has felt exceptionally long. There have been some beautiful, bright days, but snow came in large storms and made travel to my favourite spots a bit more treacherous than in the past and we have had many days of extreme cold, so the thought of spending several hours on the trails was less than appealing.

Now that the worst of winters seems to be behind us, I ventured back out to familiar places to see what new treats nature had to offer me.

I noticed that this year, the number of beech trees that retained their leaves was drastically reduced. I think in part due to the extreme cold temperatures and the many days of strong winds and heavy snowfall. The groves that are normally bright orange sat still and bereft of leaves, leaving bare branches and silence. But, there were still a few trees along the trails, that for some reason, managed to retain their leaves very well. I could see no difference between them but I was happy to see at least some colour in the forest, which seemed particularly bare this year.

This particular tree is sheltered for the raw north wind by a grove of plantations pines, which can be sem in the background and is exposed to sunshine from the south, which may be why it still looks good when so many trees closeby are either bare of are hanging on to tattered and bleached remains of once beautiful copper leaves.

Phone 12 Pro @ 26 mm
1/1222 sec, f/1.6, ISO 32