Oak and Ash tree children

I took these photos of acorns and ash keys hanging on the trees at Filnore Woods on 7th October.  Many of the acorns will have ripened and dropped to the ground already, and tonight's gales will probably dislodge the rest

 

 

Imagine if every acorn grew into an oak tree.  It's an example of over-production.  It only needs one acorn to become a tree every 300 years or so to keep the oak population steady.

 

Ash keys are ripening too, in huge numbers.

 Ash keys will grow easily on bare ground but acorns usually need to be pushed into the ground to germinate.  Jays hide caches of acorns in grassland and this is the main way that oaks spread.

In the picture below you can see three young, jay-planted oak trees in the Cowshed Field