A very cold NE gale, the coldest this autumn on 27th October caused a rapid change on the Riverside with leaves falling in drifts from the trees, no gradual and subtle change this year. On 29th the wind had dropped and wildlife was adjusting to the colder weather with more activity and urgency.
Many robins were singing, still quite close together - in adjacent trees - with blue and great tits very active and now more easily visible catching insects amongst the twigs. In a thicket a silent chiffchaff was foraging - certainly one which will be staying here over the winter. Blackbirds were now more numerous, probably some migrants amongst them, all along the river bank and under the hedges. Quiet voices from a party of long-tailed tits were heard - where? They came into view flying low along the river course one by one, to land on an overhanging blackthorn - a lot safer than scattering amongst the treetops when hungry winged predators are around. The finches are bolder birds - a group of five goldfinches flew high across and into a thicket where some bright chaffinches were feeding and a linnet was perched on a high branch. Lower down close to the water, wrens were now more visible with one or two singing. House sparrows were active along the hedges with two pied wagtails finding insects in the mud on the field and twelve black-headed gulls in winter plumage landed on the grass to feed together with numbers of woodpigeons and a few magpies.
A very fine view of two smart treecreepers collecting insects from deep crevices in the bark on the same old oak completed the River bank scene for the day.
In the days preceding the cold blast from the north, the autumn had been working its magic:
covering the mud under the trees with a soft and brilliant layer of leaves
with more gently spiraling down, adding to the riverside carpet.
Lichen on the branches shone with the same colors as the fallen leaves
- birds will be making use of this in spring.
Shaggy Inkcap mushrooms suddenly appeared
at the foot of a tree - they won't last long, rapidly disintegrating into 'ink'
once they have opened.
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