The end of October continued the lasting trend with late fruits and late leaf fall. The weather was gradually brightening on 29th after overnight drizzle. Layers on layers of leaves covered the grassy areas but the ground underneath was still firm. The seasonal mud had yet to arrive and hide the thick carpets of acorns. There was no wind to help create the fall of leaves and trees held many red apple varieties and Crab Apples especially were set to provide a feast for wildlife over the coming months. Sugars were attracting flying insects, with crowds of midges thronging the riverside soon to be consumed by small birds both visitors and residents . It was very quiet apart from Robins singing loudly, already preparing their chosen territories. Ivy was flowering with berries appearing too. Record numbers of Rose hips and Hawthorn berries have been ripening too. October is always a time of transition but this year the change from autumn to winter has been hesitant, even erratic, The last days of October had been dry underfoot with the land clearly capable of absorbing much water. Suddenly on the last day, the forecast was 'Severe Weather Later' and sure enough the rain came:
A view of the river - suddenly flowing fast after the first rain.
This was in early November and the sun didn't last long.
Back to October 29th with wildlife here well adapted over the summer and the slow autumn to take advantage of whatever was available from day to day. House Sparrows are masters of adaption and today there were several gatherings along the riverside singing loudly as soon as the sun appeared (70). Others had dropped down onto the brambles to feed on the blackberries, most little more than bunches of seeds.
A group of ten Starlings flew together from roof to roof then away, their morning bathing routine completed. Blackbirds (14) flew down onto the shady grass from the undergrowth whilst Robins could be heard and seen all along the riverside some singing loudly, each in its own space (39). Woodpigeons (28) were mostly perching high up in the Oak canopies, initially to capture the first sun whilst magpies (9) caused a stir calling and chasing each other as squirrels were few in number, not creating much competition in this landscape of plenty. Carrion Crows were calling loudly however (7) always on the defensive. Also very audible, a crowd of 49 Herring Gulls were heading for school grounds nearby. Three Jays were seen in different trees, there are always more than allow themselves to be spotted, at least 10 in the area, unlike Nuthatches which are now starting to make themselves heard again after a quiet summer, one was seen on this day calling loudly. Keeping well away from most other birds here, Jackdaws have formed their own community claiming certain trees as their habitat- but this is not one of their chosen places and normally they are just seen flying over. Only one was seen today calling the others.
41 Blue ts and 13 Great ts were very active, the latter mostly in the pines seeking out insects in the sun.
Close to these were 6 restless Goldcrests, far quicker than the larger birds.
Long-tailed ts seem to have done well this year with family groups exploring the woodland, (8) today.
Only
7 wrens were seen, most singing or calling very short calls from the banks and a single silent
Dunnock foraged along the path just before a close flypast by
a Bullfinch. Finally - it was good to see a
Grey Wagtail in it's usual habitat flying over the shady steep sided river.
That was the last of the small birds but the star of today's survey were the larger birds - a Kestrel flew in to perch on the top of of an Ash tree, clearly visible now that the leaves have fallen - then a Red Kite was seen drifting slowly North West after circling above.
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