Countryside Rangers Diary
September has a restless feel.
The sounds of summer changing slowly to those of autumn. It can be a rewarding month for wildlife watching with lots going on before the dark of winter sets in.
The last of the insects now emerge and mature. Meadows, grasslands and patches of scrub scratch away with their own rhythms as grasshoppers and crickets get in one last tune before the first frosts kill them off. Migrant moths and butterflies concentrate their efforts around nectar rich flowers.
Some of our Elders are starting to turn yellow showing that the autumn is rolling in. It will be the horse chestnut and beech next. Of course, autumn is the time for fruits. Already our rowan trees are laden with bright red fruit and the blackberries are starting to ripen. It is an essential time for many of our bird and mammal species. They are busy fattening themselves up for hibernation or migration. The hedgerow feast may seem like a one sides relationship but it is amazing how far animals will disperse a fruit's seed. Remember how often a white laundry day can be ruined by visits from blackbirds, starlings and thrushes.
Mammal watching is a little easier at this time of year as numbers are at a peak, it is possible to watch a field vole in broad daylight whistling up and down a bramble ladder to pinch the best blackberries from the tips of shoots. Foxes and badgers are quick to cash in on the blackberry harvest; the badger latrines around the park are stained purple this time of year!
Now that the breeding season is over many of our summer visiting birds are thinking about the great autumn migration. The Swifts have now gone. The Swallows and house martins are starting to form large flocks ready to head off and the shrubs echo emptiness, there will soon be no more calls from willow warblers, whitethroats or chiffchaffs. However they will be replaced with our winter visitors who will soon arrive.
Keep an eye out for varieties of fungi, which will appear in the park as soon as we have our first significant rainfall. A good one to look for is the aptly named beefsteak fungus. Often seen on oak or chestnut trees not only does it look the right colour but also it even drips 'blood' and smells rather meaty!!