Recently harvested maize.

This last month has been very dry for this time of year. There have been some wonderful dawns and beautiful sunsets. These dry conditions have allowed many farmers to bring in most of their crops and even start ploughing and re-seeding. Some hedge cutting has been carried out because of the dryer conditions. It would have been better had the hedge cutting been left until the numerous blackberries, hazelnuts, hawthorn berries and sloes had been eaten as food for the animals and birds. Never the less, there are remains of corn on the cob and the odd green potato where the maize fields and potato fields have recently been harvested or are about to be. In some places the leaves of wheat in the fields are just poking their heads up above the ground and with some rain will soon accelerate.
This is a good time to carry out necessary pond clearance before the frogs and toads begin to hibernate. It is always a good idea to clear only a third of the pond and pond edge a year but when more drastic clearance has to be carried out then always leave twenty percent of the vegetation on the pond edge. This will leave enough habitat for over-wintering amphibians and dragonfly larvae to survive. It is also a good time to clear ditches but again it is good practice if only one side is cleared and also it's best not to dump the ditch waste on unimproved vegetation, there might be rare plants growing there!

Lawyer's Wig or Shaggy Ink Cap Coprinus comatus

This month is a good time to look out for mushrooms and toadstools but we will need some rain to really have them coming out. One of the commoner species is the Lawyer's Wig or Shaggy Ink Cap (Coprinus comatus). They can often be found growing on disturbed ground, in grass by roadsides, on rubbish heaps and on lawns. They are edible when fresh but do not eat them if you are unsure or when they are a few days old, you could poison yourself.
The leaves of the Beech trees will turn a beautiful orange colour and with the rain, frost and wind many of the leaves from our trees will start to fall. The badgers have been busy and will continue to be dragging new bedding into their setts in preparation for the winter. Dormice, hedgehogs and our reptiles will start looking for good places to hibernate this month. With the colder weather some of our winter visitors like Fieldfares and Redwings will be flying in from Scandinavia and our summer residents like the Swallow and Martins will be gathering together in preparation for their migration to Africa.

Common Fleabane Pulicaria dysenterica

There are still a number of flowers out which provide nectar for insects and give colour in the landscape. One of the flowers that can be seen around damper areas is Common Fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica). The leaves from this yellow flowering plant have been gathered and burnt to drive fleas away for centuries. The only bad side about this plant is that it acts as an insecticide so if an insect decides to continue feeding on the nectar it is likely to kill it by poisoning.

You may be lucky to see one of this country's most colourful butterflies, the Peacock (Inachis io) taking advantage of the last warm days before going off and finding a well sheltered place to over winter either in a hole in a tree or someone's garden shed.

Peacock Inachis io

If you do discover one during the winter it may flash its wings to reveal its eye like markings and make a loud rustling sound to hopefully frighten off any predator. Next spring, after mating, the female will lay her eggs on or near Stinging Nettles, which is the caterpillar's food source.
Not all the animals hibernate during the winter but species like the Grey Squirrel and the Jay do have to make provisions in case there is a hard winter to come. One of the best food sources to store away for a cold or rainy day is the acorn from the oak tree.

Pedunculate Oak Quercus robur

The commonest oak tree we have here in the south is the Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur). Acorns were once an important source of food for domesticated animals, especially pigs. The areas where many acorns were found were strongly protected and in the New Forest these areas are still in existence and are used by those with "commoners rights" known as a right of "pannage".
This is the month where the clocks go forward and the evenings become much darker and one creature that has adapted to feed very successfully in the dark is the Tawny Owl (Strix aluco). The Tawny Owl flies silently and with its mottled brown plumage sneaks up on its prey unseen and unheard until it is too late.

Tawny Owl Strix aluco

The Tawny Owl can be seen in the open but not for long, as they prefer to live and hunt in woodland on mice, voles and shrews. October is when the Tawny Owl really starts to hoot at night and it is this owl that makes the hoot that is most commonly associated with owls in this country and is described as a "to-whit-to-wooo" sound.

Next month November I will talk about other sounds you may hear at night.