Tower and Town, October 2022 (view the full edition)Nature Notes
But now that the flowers have withered, the butterflies all but gone and the days shorter and colder, what can we less besotted nature lovers seek out as the leaves steadily fall from the trees? Well, we could start with a visit to Westonbirt Arboretum where Acers and Maples as well as native trees provide a spectacular range of leaf colours as the month progresses - fiery reds, vibrant oranges and bright yellows. Back at home it's a good month for sorting cupboards, tidying up sheds, and hoovering behind the sofa, and a very good time to find woodlice, spiders and a hibernating Red Admiral or two. Spiders come into their own from mid-September to early October and feature in various shapes and sizes: the Cellar Spider, Giant House Spider (a fast mover), Mouse Spider, Cupboard Spider (can bite, causing "mild side-effects") and another biter - the Noble False Widow Spider! As for woodlice we suddenly find a small host in a dark corner by a skirting board and we obsessively hoover them up in the name of good house-keeping. On a warm evening in October I find a swarm of Craneflies (I prefer the old-fashioned name "Daddy Long Legs") hovering over the long grass on Fyfield Down. Meanwhile Bats are seeking hibernation sites for the winter months. I discovered one clamped behind a wall panel in our garden room in late September and took it to the National Trust office in Avebury- there are incidentally reckoned to be five different species in the Great Barn. My habit of picking mushrooms in our local fields ceased after I brought home a crop in a handkerchief and was sick for two days. There are fewer appearing locally these days, so I have switched allegiance to the fungi of Savernake Forest, which include the hallucinogenic magic mushroom and the fly agaric toadstool, attractive to the eye but be warned- it's poisonous! All this in preparation for the festival of Halloween on the 31st, images for which find inspiration from some of the above. Robin Nelson |
By the beginning of October most of our summer visiting birds have disappeared. Swallows and Martins, Warblers, Pipits and Flycatchers have all gone south, whilst flocks of Ducks and Waders, Starlings, Redwings and Fieldfares from all quarters are coming this way. The "Twitchers" are heading for migration "hot spots" such as Fair Isle, Portland Bill and the Scillies to seek out a rare Warbler, a Wryneck or a Shrike.