Wild Winkworth, October snippets

'The summer-flower has run to seed,
And yellow is the woodland bough;
And every leaf of bush and weed
Is tipt with autumn’s pencil now.'

The opening lines of John Clare's 'Autumn', and now very apt as the season is well and truly upon us. The trees are turning some wonderful shades around the arboretum and some of the early ornamentals have already lost many of their leaves, smattering the ground with dots of red and gold.

The misty hazy mornings this month have already brought with them the odd touch of grass frost and ripe berries are fast disappearing from the hedgerows and trees, gobbled up by hungry creatures. Jays become more conspicuous at this time of year, flitting from Oak to Oak, collecting acorns to store away for the cold winter months to come - did you know that a single Jay can gather five thousand acorns in one autumn?

It's not just the landscape that is changing though, as the autumn migration season is now in full flow and birds are sweeping across Britain in their hundreds of thousands and there has been much evidence of this at Winkworth recently.

The early Redwings I mentioned in my last blog post have now been joined by many more - on the 20th I noted over a hundred over the arboretum in the first hour of the day alone, mostly heading south and west, some very high so presumably had just arrived from Scandinavia overnight. Check out the Sorbus and other berry-bearing trees in the Bowl to get a closer look at these handsome thrushes. The first Fieldfares, meanwhile, were a flock of thirty or so which flew west on the 17th.

Skylarks too have been moving in numbers. Up until this month it had been weeks since I'd seen or heard one here, but I've recorded over a dozen over in the past couple of weeks alone.

There have also been noticeably more Reed Buntings around lately and it would appear they are using the small reedbed next to Rowe's Flashe Lake as a roost site as I noted three flying from there early on the 20th followed by six doing the same on the 22nd.

On the morning of the 27th it was a very nice surprise to find two Pintail (a female and a young drake) and two first-year drake Wigeon on Rowe's Flashe Lake - both new species for me here. One of the Wigeon flew off early in the day while the Pintail and remaining Wigeon stuck around for the rest of the day. All had gone, however, by the time I returned to Winkworth on the 30th after two days' training at Polesden Lacey. Both of these species breed in Northern Europe, Iceland, Scandinavia and Russia so these individuals were presumably tired first-time migrants stopping off for a rest en route to their wintering grounds, perhaps somewhere on the south coast.

In keeping with the Siskin invasion going on all over Britain and indeed Europe at the moment, there have been loads here in the past few weeks; many seemingly just passing through but others lingering. The Alder trees on the eastern side of Rowe's Flashe Lake are a reliable spot for them, while on 8th October John Rowland got some nice shots of some of a flock of at least forty which were frequenting the Western Hemlock trees along the edge of the overflow car park.

Butterflies are getting very scarce now, but the warmer days towards the end of the month have seen the odd Red Admiral on the wing in the arboretum, while on the 13th visitor Graham Dash reported seeing a Small Copper. 

There are some lovely moths to be seen around this time of year and I've been finding a few around the place recently, like this Angle Shades I found on my car door handle when I was leaving work the other evening...

...and this Feathered Thorn which had decided to take refuge in the public toilets!

I've been finding a lot of Common Frogs around the arboretum recently, particularly in The Bowl, so keep an eye out if you're kicking through the fallen leaves! 

While the autumn leaf colour is (rightly!) taking centre stage in the arboretum at present, there are still a few splashes of flower colour around - this Nettle-leaved Bellflower is putting on an unusually late show near the top of the Fiona Adam Steps.

As ever Roe Deer are a common sight around the arboretum in small numbers, particularly the Badger's Bowl lately where these two were hanging out early on the 6th.

And to finish this blog post, how about this for a cool-looking bug? It's a Hawthorn Shieldbug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale) which I luckily spotted before I sat on it as it had taken a shine to the seat of our off-road buggy!

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Wild Winkworth, early Autumn

First off, apologies for the extended break between blog posts. I was away in South Africa for the first three weeks of September and have come back to find autumn is well and truly with us at Winkworth! The trees are beginning to turn some wonderful shades around the arboretum now, particularly the Katsuras (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) dotted about the place giving their glorious burnt sugar scent, and the Maples (Acers) in The Bowl and Badger's Bowl (pictured below).

It’s clearly been all go on the bird front while I’ve been away and this has continued as September has given way to October. The Swallows are largely gone – the five I saw flying south-west on 3rd October may prove to be amongst the last of the year here – while House Martins too are gathering to depart. Over two hundred and fifty hirundines passed over on 24th September, mostly House Martins, and mostly heading east/south-east. First thing on the 25th a Hobby flew strongly south-west over Rowe’s Flashe Lake; another of our summer visitors which won’t be with us very much longer. Other raptors seen recently have been occasional Sparrowhawk and Kestrel, and more regular sightings of Buzzard, including this one perched conspicuously atop a Larch in the Bowl. 

 On the warbler side of things, there are still a fair few Chiffchaffs around, some of them singing from time to time to defend feeding territories as they fuel up for their long southward migrations. Towards the end of September there were still a couple of Blackcaps hanging around in the Elder bushes in Furze Field, although these too will soon be on their way. As the summer migrants prepare to leave though, so the winter visitors are already streaming in. There have been lots of Meadow Pipits moving through in the past couple of weeks, and the first Redwings of autumn were three flying south-east on the morning of the 28th followed by another seven on the 30th. Siskin numbers are increasing, with a flock of at least thirty in the Alders around Rowe’s Flashe Lake on 3rd October and lots more moving around overhead. On the 28th I noted the first Redpoll flying around with the Siskin flock by the lake. Firecrests and Marsh Tits have been a bit more conspicuous just recently, the Firecrest in the photo below showing well with a roving Tit flock by Rowe’s Flashe last week although sadly the light wasn't in my favour.

 On the morning of the 29th there were three Water Rails calling simultaneously in Phillimore Wetland – the highest count of this species here to date – while later in the day a 1st winter Common Gull flew south; the first one of autumn here. Other bird bits of note have been regular Grey Wagtails down at Rowe’s Flashe Lake plus occasional visits from a Kingfisher. On the 30th three Egyptian Geese flying south-east represented my first record of this species here for a while. Talking of geese, a Bar-headed Goose on Rowe’s Flashe on the 29th was a bit unexpected. Although in the wild this species holds the record for the highest bird migration, having been recorded flying at altitudes of over 7km, this individual had very likely escaped from a private collection. 

Butterfly numbers have dropped away sharply while I’ve been away and despite the warm sunshine in the past week or so I have only noted the odd Speckled Wood, Red Admiral or Large or Small White around the arboretum, although today I did stumble across a Peacock while tidying out one of our wood stores - clearly it had chosen it as a good place to spend the winter. Dragonflies too are becoming scarcer but I’m still seeing the odd Migrant Hawker and Common Darter around.

Roe Deer remain a common sight around the arboretum, particularly in the mornings. I spotted these three having a rest in the field below Sorbus Hill the other day. 

To finish this blog post, a few more autumnal images from the past couple of weeks. I love this time of year!

Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)

Elderberries (Sambucus nigra)

Orange Peel Fungus (Aleuria aurantia)

Common Toad (Bufo bufo)

Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) 

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