Golden plover Autumn is now firmly with us, as are our regular autumn visitors. Modest flocks of redwing can now be seen and heard on the lower slopes of Spring Hill, while higher up the first of the golden plover have made their way down from the North Yorkshire Moors to winter with us. We were very privileged this month to join a group of bird ringers for an early morning to the west of the village. In just a few hours, they had caught and ringed over twenty-four different

Honey fungus This bounteous autumn continues. One of the sounds this year is the pit-a-pat of acorns falling from the laden boughs or, in the case of a walk we did on the coat-tails of Storm Amy, whizzing through the air like bullets. The hollow-way through which we usually reach Hens Wood was blocked by a series of fallen trees that seem to have come down like skittles. This is a great year for chestnuts, not conkers which seem to have been no better than average, but delici

Canada Goose One sign of autumn is that the tawny owls in the churchyard have become very vocal, and their calls on a cold, clear evening are quite haunting. We also have the apparent return of Edgar, the great white egret that terrorized our garden ponds two years ago. He was recently seen at the river, not far from a little egret, which emphasised just how large he is! We are still awaiting the return of the golden plover to Spring Hill, but the skylarks, yellowhammers and

Now that the temperature is really starting to drop, there are lots of things we can do to help wildlife to overwinter until Spring. Resist tidying up too much! The trees in November are full of autumn colour as they shed their leaves for the winter. Whilst it’s very tempting remove all the fallen leaves from your garden, raking the leaves into piles in corners or under shrubs will keep your garden tidy but still help wildlife. Leaf piles create shelter for insects, amphi

Winter is now truly upon us and there are lots of things that will make a difference to the wildlife in your garden. Helping frogs in the winter Male frogs often spend winter in the muddy depths of ponds, breathing through their skin. But if the pond freezes over, gases caused by decaying plant material can get trapped and poison them. Remove debris from ponds now, and float a tennis or golf ball on the surface to prevent ice from sealing it. Autumn planting for nature Autumn

Green Sandpiper Unusually, there are still some swallows and house martins around, but they will surely have left before the beginning of October. Those summer visitors will be replaced by our autumn visitors, including redwing and fieldfare as well as our regular flock of golden plover. The redwings and fieldfare only travel at night, and it is worth heading outside on a clear frosty October evening and listening hard with your hands cupped over your ears. You may well hear

Hornet Hoverfly This bounteous autumn peaked in early September with branches laden with hips, haws, acorns and sloes. I doubt I have ever seen such clustered masses of cherry-red haws, bending the boughs under their weight. We have had just the right combination of sunshine and, latterly, rain, to produce an exceptional harvest. Such abundance seems wasteful, but the more seeds there are, the better the chances of some of them escaping the hungry jaws of wildlife and generat

Hobby I think that the swifts left us on August 1st for their immense journey south. The swallows and house martins are still with us...

Wall brown butterfly By the second week in August the landscape was looking autumnal; the pale, parched grass contrasting with the deep...

Pipistrelle bat As the summer comes to an end, there are lots of things you can do to help wildlife survive in the winter. Provide...

Butterbur It was a delight to see butterflies returning in good numbers after their (for many species) disastrous season last year. I...

Great whitethroat As I write, the swifts are screaming overhead in the clear blue sky. They seem to have done well this year, with over...

As Autumn approaches, there are still plenty of things you can do in your garden to help wildlife. Even the smallest things can make a...

House Martin The last few weeks have been relatively dry, and one result of this is the lack of mud! We were reminded of this on a walk...

Ground elder By the beginning of June, the wonderful hawthorn blossom, and the foam of cow parsley that lines our lanes, were over. In...

In July there is an abundance of wildlife in our gardens and there’s plenty you can do to help it thrive! Provide food and water for...

May is one of the loveliest months in the year as the countryside starts looks its best after the winter. It’s a time when we really...

Snipe To echo Peter in his report, the last few weeks have been glorious, and the perfect weather to be out and about. At the time of...

Oil Beetle This is the time of year when you note the first awakenings of spring. There was an early spawning of frogs in a friend’s...

Goshawk As we transition from winter to spring, so many of our winter residents start to head off and the inbound migrants start to...