AUTUMN STARTS AND THE NIGHTS DRAW IN, BUT IS THE WILDLIFE UNDER COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS?

Not much action in the last couple of weeks in the garden, as we head to the end of British Summer Time. 

A few garden birds are spending a little time in the garden, but only to make use of the fat snacks and peanuts on offer. 

House sparrows, blue tits and great tits are seen most days, with robins were seen and heard a couple of times a week. 

The weather was getting much cooler, but a warm spell this week encouraged plenty of insects to be out and about, albeit without any sightings of bats in the quickly darkening evenings. 

The hedgehogs haven’t been sighted for a couple of weeks, while there’s been plenty of sightings of slugs and snails around the garden, particularly in the evenings. 

Late at night and overnight, with windows open, the sounds of foxes, badgers and owls have been heard. 

While not very often it does show that these animals are still active around the area, even if it’s not as often as previously. 

With the nights closing in fast, we’re once again on fox and badger watch, when returning with the girls from evening gymnastics training sessions. 

One day they’ll see one, even if the times I’ve seen them at night, which has been few times in the last few years, they’ve either been asleep or not in the car. 

So, with summertime ending and Covid-19 restrictions in place, I hope the wildlife can bring us all some joy and be active around the garden more often than in previous years. 

It’ll definitely be helpful during what is likely to be a digital Christmas and we are confined to our home throughout the holiday period.

SUMMER LIFE IN THE GARDEN CAN BE QUIETER

Life in and around the garden has become a lot quieter in recent days, with the newly fledged blue tits, great tits, robins and house sparrows all seemingly off to find adventure (and food) in the surrounding countryside.

The magpie family are still very audible around the garden, particularly in the morning when the youngsters are often heard cackling, often a few hours before anyone’s alarm has gone off!

They are also fairly noisy in the evenings, although this isn’t too bad as we’re still awake. The reason for their noise is often down to the increasing number of cats around, which is really annoying for everyone.

I intercepted two cats with voles in their mouths, which is so frustrating that they’re catching prey that could feed owls or kestrels, or even foxes. Instead the cats are clearing up and we don’t get to see those animals in the countryside setting we’re in.

The robin family, which successfully fledged a brood at the third attempt, had spent a couple of weeks around the garden, but have not been seen for a couple of days.

There are four youngsters and they seemed to enjoy spending time around the garden and could often be found literally under our feet.

 

  

While it’s sad to see them move on from the garden, it’s so pleasing to see the parents have chicks after two tragic attempts at previous broods.

We’re seeing a few more glimpses of the swallows, which can be put down to the adults teaching the newly fledged chicks the best fly catching methods.

They’re starting to learn to swoop lower and lower around the gardens and it’s a great sight to see.

It’s a shame they’ll be leaving in a matter of weeks, although the squawking swifts, which are still sometimes venturing over the garden in the evening, will depart much sooner.

COOLER CONDITIONS SIGNAL WINTER DARKNESS

Not one day has passed this month (October) without rain falling. While this has been fairly represented across the UK, it must mean we’re on for a pretty wet autumn.

The flora is gradually feeling the effects of the wet and cooler weather, and with sunlight in limited supply most plant-based organisms are ‘retreating’ to their winter states.

The wildlife has been generally out of sight so far this month, with only small flocks of house sparrows visibly on a regular basis.

As we near the end of the year I’ll soon start reflecting on how the seasons change the garden, starting with how it emerges from winter into spring.

I’ll do it in quarters, starting with January to March.

With not much free time available due to work, darkness and the children, there’s plenty of work to do in the garden.

Clearing things for winter will have to wait until November, but always being mindful that wildlife will be relying on certain elements of the garden or shelter during the cold weather that winter brings.

Autumn and winter are the times of year that mean viewing wildlife that’s active in the day is limited to weekends.

It also brings opportunities to view nocturnal animals, particularly the mammals and birds (bats, badgers, owls and foxes), all of which have been seen or heard recently.

Let’s hope my daughters finally get to see a fox in the flesh – or ‘real life’ as they both say.

AUTUMNAL SIGNS ABOUND

The dark nights are really rolling in now and the last of the summer visitors have flown south, leaving the garden birds to the skies around the garden,

The pond is almost full now, thanks to the recent spate of heavy rain showers, so this weekend my result in a trip to the garden centre for some flora to help create and environment fit for small creatures.

Yesterday I saw a few trees starting to turn the beautiful autumnal orange, gold and yellow colours, albeit the vast majority are still fully green.

Given the recent drop in temperature an Indian Summer is now unlikely, so we could be set for some glorious autumn colours in the coming weeks.

There’s still not much activity in the garden, except for a small flock of house sparrows and a few blue tits.

I can hear robins every so often, but nothing really of great tits, goldfinches, dunnocks, blackbirds or the local wrens.

The owls are still heard every so often nearby, but they must have found more favourable hunting grounds elsewhere recently.

As we all start to turn out the winter coats, the wildlife is slowly starting to get ready for the colder seasons of the year.

A bit like use humans!

A MILD WINTER?

It’s not exactly been a cold start to winter, although typically the coldest weather is normally reserved for January and February.

This is likely to be having an effect on the birds coming in to the garden, because they have not been in the numbers I would normally expect.

The big peanut feeder in the garden hasn’t needed topping up for a week and thoughts are turning to another reason why birds aren’t in the garden much – the local cats!

Between three houses there are seven cats, but one house feeds stray cats which increases the number to double figures.

The daily sight of at least two cats with small animals in their mouths is very unnerving and it’s not a good sign for the local wildlife population.

Cats eating rodents means that food for owls, foxes and kestrels will be in short supply, so they’ll move on, removing the area of apex predators. This will then increase the non-rodent populations of animals that will not be kept in check by the cats.

It’s really sad that people seem to have little or no respect for the area they live in; if you move to a rural location, make sure you respect it and don’t introduce a domesticated predator en-masse to a small area; it ruins it for wildlife and the people who have moved there because of it.

Cats aren’t welcome in the garden, although stopping them is almost impossible. The fact they think other gardens are free to use as their toilet is quite frankly disgusting and shows their owners have a complete disregard for humans, in particular children who might play in gardens and not understand the dangers of cat poo.

Anyway rant over.

While it’s still mild then many insects are active, including the spiders in the ivy and flies that keep coming into the house. A cold winter helps control such creatures, and many more besides, so here’s hoping that after Christmas the cold weather arrives.

Added to that is the increased risk of snow, which means snowmen, snowball fights and sledging! Bring on the snow.