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Writer's pictureWildlifeKate

Autumnal Feel

Back to my old routine now the holiday are over and I walk my dog as the kids leave for school. There was a definite chill in the air this morning and that ‘feel’ that autumn is just around the corner. I have not walked my usual route for about a month and the differences were amazing….. the fields that were full of  wheat are now piled with straw bales, ready for collection. The potato fields’ foliage has died down and I daresay the potatoes will soon be harvested. Leaves are changing colour and the first fallen, unripe conkers litter the path… some cracked open by youngsters enthusiastically looking for that first shiny new conker to add to the collection. Many of the horse chestnut seemed to have suffered with some kind of disease this year. I noticed many of the leaves becoming discoloured earlier on in the summer. I thought that maybe it was because of the dry weather. One on my route has lost all of its leaves already and looks like it has died. Others have no conkers at all. I wonder what that could be?

As I made my way into the fields that I walk around, the long grass, twigs and foliage were all covered in webs…. all hanging in dew… I so wished I had my camera! There were absolutely thousands of them. Quite literally every available point from which to hang a web, was strung with silk. It makes you realise how many spiders there are in an area like this and it takes the right conditions for you to be able to have a glimpse into the arachnid world that hides in the undergrowth. I wouldn’t have liked to be a fly trying to make my way through that lot! Not sure f we are going to have similar conditions tomorrow morning, but I will take my camera, just in case!

The bird feeders have been very busy today. My one juvenile bullfinch has spent quite a lot fo time on the seed feeder as well as the other usual visitors. The great spotted woodpecker is visiting more regularly… usually early when I am up first thing, putting the kettle on. Have only seen the female so far. The goldfinches are regular visitors to the new niger feeder I bought at the birdfair. It had a large tray, so I felt confident that there would not be too much mess. How wrong could I be? The whole patio area is strewn with niger seed….. a right mess!

The foxes all visited last night, along with the hedgehog, but it’s 9pm now and no one has made an appearance yet…..

Will get some more photos soon…. let’s hope for webs again tomorrow morning.

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