Red Ajah Autum Fair: Nature and Autumn

[Panchi]

I am a bit late in starting this. Sorry!

 

Fruit, nuts and seeds

Blackberries ripening

 

Early in the autumn plants across the country look to the future: dispersing their seeds through a number of techniques so that they can spread and grow next spring.

 

From September onwards you're likely to see lightweight seeds like sycamore 'helicopters' travelling by air. Prickly specimens such as beech nuts hitch a ride on animal coats. Acorns appeal to mammals and birds alike as both squirrels and jays bury them to provide meals through the cold winter. Inevitably they don't remember the location of all their stashes but it's win-win for mother nature as the neglected nuts develop into new trees.

 

Plenty of plants use fruit to make sure their seeds are spread far and wide too. The phrase 'blackberry picking' conjures up childhood memories of sticky red fingers and smiling faces for many of us. Of course it's not just us who enjoy the ripening fruit at this time of year, everything from foxes to wasps will reap the sweet benefits too.

 

If you're out and about searching for crumble, jam or wine ingredients record your first ripe fruit sightings for Nature's Calendar

 

As well as the first sightings, surveyors are interested in whether it's been 'a good year for berries'. It's much more difficult to make these subjective assessments but if you know your local patch well you might be able to tell whether there are fewer or more berries than previous years.

 

Fungi

 

Fly agaric mushrooms

Through a combination of the summer warmth and autumnal damp, there's an explosion of mushrooms starting in September each year. Mushrooms are the fruiting part of fungi and appear throughout autumn to spread their spores and establish new kingdoms.

 

A word of warning however, some species of mushroom are fatally poisonous. If you're a budding mycologist on the look out for mushrooms make sure you take a good field guide and be completely certain of a mushroom's identity before touching any. Better yet, take an expert guide or join a guided mushroom walk and just enjoy the sights.

 

You can record the first iconic red and white fly agaric of the season to Nature's Calendar too.

 

Turning leaves

As the summer sunlight wanes trees stop producing chlorophyll for photosynthesis and leaves begin to change colour. The timing of this colour change varies by species and location. Over at Nature's Calendar they want to know when you first see the leaves starting to tint and which species transform first.

 

 

Leaves in 'full tint'

 

Over the past few years the leaves of horse chestnut trees have been turning much earlier than expected. In many cases this isn't down to an early autumn but because of an infestation of moth larvae.

 

The Cameraria ohridella, or horse chestnut leaf miner, lays its eggs deep in the leaves and its voracious appetite quickly turns leaves brown and decrepit. Scientists are really interested to know where these moths are so if you've seen any suspicious horse chestnuts register your sightings in the alien moth survey.

 

Later in the year, you can also report the first full leaf tint (when every leaf turned yellow, brown or red), the first leaves falling and the first bare tree to Nature's Calendar.

 

Animal behaviour

A dormouse nibbles a hazelnut

 

Falling temperatures trigger mass migrations as birds seek sunnier climes with better buffets. The favoured 'winter sun' destination of northern European birds is Africa. Again, Nature's Calendar are interested in tracking this so if you keep a record of the birds leaving your area please let them know. They also want to know if/when you see winter arrivals like redwing or fieldfare.

 

The BTO are seeking your reports too for their BirdTrack survey into migration and distribution.

 

Squirrels and jays burying acorns aren't the only British inhabitants to behave differently in the run up to winter. You may find you have a few extra house guests as butterflies and ladybirds seek warm spaces to sleep through the colder months. Please report any ladybird findings to the UK Ladybird Survey.

 

Hedgehogs, dormice and bats will be piling on the grams gorging themselves on fruit, nuts and insects respectively to build their body fat for hibernation. Dormice have a very particular way of chewing hazel nuts, leaving very distinctive tooth marks. As a species under threat, it's important to know where they still survive. It's a lot easier to find nibbled nuts before leaves start to fall so now is a great time to join the People's Trust for Endangered Species's great nut hunt.

 

 

Stags head to head on Autumnwatch

 

It's not all comfort eating and snuggling down of course. It's the busiest time of year for many including deer, boar and bats who are seeking mates. For our larger mammals it can be a violent, dramatic affair as fans of Autumnwatch's deer ruts will know. If you want to witness this behaviour, remember to stay a good distance from the action so you don't disturb them.

 

Rather than muscular power struggles, bats take the more traditionally romantic approach of serenading potential mates. It's possible for the human ear to hear these songs but a bat detector is more reliable. Early in the autumn you may see swarms of Daubenton's and Brandt's bats around the entrances to tunnels and caves, singing for the attention of females inside. You can help scientists learn more about bat behaviour by taking part in a variety of surveys with Bat Conservation.

 

 

 

 

What are your opinions about this?

[Karasayl]

I think the best thing about the turning leaves is actually once they fall. Now it may seem strange to think so, but theres just something so autumn-y refreshing about the small of them...even though they are decaying X_X

[Moon Sedai]

I agree, Kara. I love the smell of autumn, the feel of the air in the month of october.

 

I think my love of autumn is cause I'm a November baby.

but I love october way more than the month of november.

[Rhea]

I'm a November baby too! October is by far my most favorite months of the year. I Love everything about Autumn and the crisp clean feeling I get when the weather cools off. Everything is getting ready to go into winter, including me! LOL The apple cider, pumpkin pie, making soups and stews, and having a fire again. I just love it all!

[Moon Sedai]

I also love the feeling when I can finally wear jeans without being over-hot. In Texas, that's sometimes as late as Thanksgiving.

 

Though my legs are awesome, my booty just doesn't look as cute in shorts as it does long pants.

 

October is Baseball. Halloween. The big push before political elections in the US (usually occur first week in November).

October is Football Season (not a fan of football, by any means, but in High school, this meant that our Marching Band was doing competition, and that was fun stuff).

 

October is also when my parents married (come to think of it, had they still been married, it would've been 35 years this week). Even though they are not together anymore, I still am greatful for their marriage because, well.... Me.

 

*sniffs in autumn air*