AUTUMNAL WEATHER SUITS SLUGS AND SNAILS

No Indian Summer this year then! Well unless October produces something that’s not in keeping with the weather this year.

Growth is continuing among the flora, albeit at a reduce rate, while the early autumn blooms of colour in the garden are somewhat bland this year.

The small garden birds are starting to spend a little more time in the garden, although how much time is yet to be determined as many could be hidden away in the trees and bushes.

There is a concern locally that cats are driving wildlife away, and while this can’t be said to be true for the garden birds yet, it’s clearly a worry given the lower numbers seen this year.

However, the slugs and snails in the garden seemingly love the conditions and are regularly seen around the paths, on the patio and sometimes scaling windows and doors.

There have not been as many crane flies this year and, while it’s a tenuous link, the increase in numbers of spiders might be to blame.

In the last couple of weeks a number of large garden spiders have created huge webs around the garden. Unfortunately they’ve been mainly catching humans!

As October swings around the bird counts will be restricted to the weekend, but it’ll be interesting to note the numbers and variety that come along to feast on the different feeders.