Trees And Shrubs:

Trees such as beech, oak, maple, horse chestnut and ash reveal their autumn colours, which can happen quite suddenly if there’s a sharp frost.

Plants:

Clematis or Traveller’s-joy (old man’s beard) spreads like a blanket over hedgerows where fruits and berries continue to provide food for birds such as redwings and fieldfares that winter in our area.

Ivy is a very important plant and especially during autumn and spring. It’s life cycle is out of step with other plants because it flowers in the autumn and fruits in the spring! Hence ivy provides food and shelter to insects and birds when they need it the most. Its autumn flowers provides a vital nectar source for insects before they hibernate.

Birds:

Redwing and fieldfares return from the north and many of our summer visitors head off south to Africa.

Mammals:

It’s the deer rutting season and stags compete for hinds by fighting each other with their antlers.

As the days shorten during October, dusk is a good time to catch sight of foxes, which have just finished their late summer moult so they will be in fine condition with glossy coats and bushy tails. They will be fattening up for the winter by eating small mammals and hedgerow fruits. Their droppings have a spiral twist at the pointed end.

Amphibians And Reptiles:

Toads hibernate under rocks and stones, as do female frogs and young frogs, but some male frogs go to the bottom of a pond.

Invertebrates:

Insect populations begin to decline, remaining as caterpillars and pupae during the start of the colder months.

The holly blue butterfly lays its white, dimpled, disc-shaped eggs on the flower stalks of  ivy. The green caterpillars that hatch look like segmented slugs and feed on the ivy flower buds. They are easy to find because they leave holes where

they have munched the buds. This species spends winter as a chrysalis, hidden in the ivy foliage.

There are plenty of harvestmen about at this time of year. These long-legged animals are a type of arachnid but they are not true spiders because they don’t produce venom nor silk. Look for harvestmen under old logs and see if you can find any different species.

Fungi:

Mushrooms and toadstools, such as fly agaric and shaggy inkcap, appear in coniferous and deciduous woodlands. Look out for fairy rings formed by toadstools in grassland and the beefsteak fungus on oak and chestnut trees.