Koptyaki Forest, north-west of Ekaterinburg, Western Siberia, Russia, Summer 2004. The gravesite of the Romanovs (Nicholas II and family) and attendants is shown about the centre. The original forest in 1917 was very much overgrown with larger trees. The trees appear to be Betula pendula (Betulaceae). Nearby on the grass I found a dead mole, but I am not sure what this significance was because they usually live underground. Also nearby what appeared to be a monk resembling Rasputin was observed slinking through the trees. But I am not sure if it was a ghost or a real person!

(Photograph: T.J. Hawkeswood)