The last of the harvest

This last month has been a hive of activity all across the Downs and in the Weald with the harvest. Combine harvesting, baling of round and rectangular bales and even re-ploughing has been going on with great haste to try and beat the wet weather. It has been a difficult time for the farmers trying to take advantage of the good weather in between the localised deluges we seem to have had. However, now most of the harvesting is over there are a number of good practices the farmer can do for conservation.

One is to avoid trimming all the hedgerows back until January, which lets wildlife take advantage of the nuts and berries that can be found there. A second is to leave a one-metre grass margin strip adjacent to the hedge to allow any late seed producing plants to be fed on by birds and animals and also to give late flowering rare arable weeds a chance. Also by growing a grass crop over winter in maize stubble will help reduce the risk of soil erosion and provide the field with surplus nitrogen for a spring cut of silage.

Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense).

Field margins and set aside fields have a lot of seed producing plants in them but one plant that if not controlled spreads rapidly is the Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense). It is a weed that farmers often cut down whilst in flower to prevent it seeding and spreading any further. If it is left to its own devices it will take over a field and then it becomes very difficult to get rid of. However, on the positive side where it has been left it attracts numerous small birds that feed on the seed like the colourful Goldfinch.

Barn Owl (Tyto alba)

Look out for the variety of wild fruit and nuts in the hedgerows like the blackberry, sloe, hazelnut, hawthorn berry and crab apple.
If you are lucky you may see a Barn Owl (Tyto alba) taking advantage of the many small rodents that are searching for food along the hedgerows edges and field margins. The best time to see one is either early in the morning or around dusk. The Barn Owl had been decreasing in numbers due to the lack of nesting sites, which are old barns and holes in trees as well as diminishing habitats. However, with more field margins being left and more nest boxes being erected their numbers are increasing.

September is the time to harvest the apples from the orchard and this is a good place to see many species of bird, mammal and insect. All of them are taking advantage of early windfalls and some birds are taking advantage of the abundance of insect to feed on too.

Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)

One insect that most birds avoid is the Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris) because of the sting they can inflict. The Common Wasp always seems to be disliked especially at this time of the year because they become drowsy and intoxicated by feeding on the fruits available that are fermenting on the ground and so are more likely to sting. The wasp is not all that bad though, but in fact it is a very efficient pest control and feeds on the numerous aphids that can plague many orchards and fruit growers.
One of the butterflies you may see this month is the Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus).

Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus).

This bright yellow butterfly is a fast flier and it can be recognised, as it never seems to open its wings out when settled. This is a migrant from the continent and although it occasionally breeds here it never seems to survive the winter.

Horse Chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum)

September is the month for the "conker" which is the fruit from the Horse Chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum). Although this tree was introduced from the Balkans in the sixteenth century it has become a symbol for the typical village green in this country. It is also celebrated in songs such as the well-known song the "Spreading Chestnut Tree". The fruit of this majestic tree has been given a number of names like Cheggies, Obblyonkers and Conker. The reason why this tree is associated with the horse is because if you look closely at the twigs you can see that where last year's leaf stalks broke off to make a scar shape like a horseshoe with the nail marks too. The conker is still collected by children to have holes bored through their centre and have string attached and used to smash against their opponent's conker to see who has the strongest.
Next month we will really notice the nights drawing in and I will talk about who will be taking advantage of these darker nights.