It's a response to the drought and heat. It's a protective response to conserve water. Oaks are shedding immature acorns.
This isn't an indication of an early autumn as a friend adamantly told me on Monday. She told me with equal force it will be a harsh winter because trees are carrying a lot of berries. It's an old wives tale, a good berry crop indicates the growing season was good for general growth, flowering, pollination and fruit development. I didn't bother to disillusion her, I know there's little point.
I read somewhere that some types of tree go in cycles
they have a normal crop of berries, nuts or whatever, for 2or 3 years and then have a bumper crop in the next year
this means that the animals that live from their berries (etc) increase in the bumper year
but then reduce again for the next few years
hence when the bumper year comes then the numbers of animals feeding off them is not too high and a lot of the seeds can grow into new plants
if they had the same crop every year ten the animals eating them would balance to be able to eat most of it - teh bumper year increase the spread of the plants
apparently plants in a specific area will sync with each other so their bumper years are together for the same reasons
Nature always has a reason - whether or not we can see it
and the weather doesn;t influence it as much as people think - -especially future weather!
Morning we has showers 
still the car looks cleaner now 
......I have just put fuel in the car and managed to round it up exactly the the (forty) pounds. Does anyone else try for that achievement or is it just me ??
