When does autumn officially start? I like to think it’s the autumn equinox, which this year falls on the 22^nd September. This is the start of ‘astronomical’ autumn, when Earth’s position in its orbit around the sun gives us roughly equal hours of day and night. The word ‘equinox’ is derived from the Latin words ‘aequus’ meaning equal and ‘nox’ meaning night. 

There is also the start of ‘meteorological’ autumn, which always falls on the 1^st September and lasts until 30^th November. Meteorologists (weather scientists) split the year into quarters, based on annual temperature cycles, to measure trends in the climate. 

Not that wildlife could care less about any of this! For many it is time to leave for warmer climates or prepare for hibernation to escape the worst of winter.  In my village the swallows (Hirundo rustica) are already lining up along the telegraph wires, as if waiting for someone to give the signal to go!  

The swifts (Apus apus) have already left, and the house martins (Delichon urbicum) and sand martins (Riparia riparia) won’t be too far behind, all of them embarking on an incredible journey of 6,000 miles to South Africa, arriving in as little as 6 weeks! Many of our woodland birds will also be leaving for the winter, redstarts (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) and nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos) to West Africa and cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) to the rainforests of The Congo. All of them heading to where food is plentiful and the weather much warmer. 

But by the end of this month we will have our autumn arrivals to look forward to! Soon Somerset will be welcoming a whole host of birds migrating from the far north. First is the handsome redwing (Turdus iliacus), named after the distinctive orangey-red patches under its wings. Redwings are members of the thrush family and flocks of them arrive here in September from Iceland and Scandinavia to raid woodlands and hedgerows for autumn fruits.

And there’s plenty to choose from! This year for example, we have a bumper crop of blackberries, sloes on blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), berries on hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) and guelder-rose (Viburnum opulus) and rosehips on dog rose (Rosa canina). There is also the tiny green fruit of crab apple trees (Malus sylvestris) nestled in the corners of woodland edges. 

But there will be stiff competition from plenty of other birds and animals: blackbirds, bullfinches (Pyrrhula pyrrhula), mice, bank voles (Myodes glareolus), foxes and badgers – the list is endless! Afterall, this is the last opportunity to feast on such a rich variety of nutrients before the lean days of winter arrive. And all will be returning the favour by scattering pips and seeds in their red and purple poop, planting a new generation of trees and shrubs as they go!

And I haven’t even mentioned the nuts! Right now, hazel dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius) will be munching on the seeds they are most associated with – hazelnuts! They are the top source of calories for these little mammals who will be piling on the weight in readiness for winter hibernation. They prefer to eat the nuts when they are still on the hazel stems or just after they have fallen, leaving a neat little hole in the side of each nutshell. Wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) on the other hand do not hibernate. Instead, they will be gathering berries, nuts and the acorns of English oak (Quercus robur) to store in underground burrows and old bird’s nests, keeping them in food until spring. 

So, if you’re gathering hazel nuts or planning to make sloe gin, please make sure you leave enough for the wildlife!

While foraging in my own garden for the last crop of raspberries, I have to gingerly reach around the many and often gigantic spiders’ webs! These are the handy work – or bottom work? – of the garden spider (Araneus diadematus). Striking to look at in varying shades of brown, orange and red, these spiders are recognisable by the spots and steaks on their abdomens which roughly form the shape of a cross. 

They are out and about in our gardens and all kinds of habitat, including woodlands, wetlands and the coast, from early summer until late autumn. It is the females who are particularly visible in September and October, sitting in the centre of their intricately woven webs. As autumn progresses, they get increasingly fat as their abdomens swell with eggs.