oak leaves in late autumn sunshine

This month look out for:

Last Autumn colours in the hedgerows and woodlands
Bird flocks in wetlands and estuaries
Arrival of redwings, fieldfares and waxwings
Atlantic salmon moving to spawning grounds
Fungi in woodlands and grasslands

November starts in with a 'bang'.  The fireworks and bonfires of the 5th light up the sky and by now the nights can be bitterly cold.  Bonfires can be attractive refuges for hibernating hedgehogs, and therefore should always be checked before they are lit, especially if you have used fallen leaves.

	larch needles

Hard frosts may have started and early mornings are often misty, as the dew from the ground condenses during the night.  This month sees the last of the leaves on the deciduous trees falling to the ground.  The only exception may be the beech, which may hang on to its coppery hues, and the larch with its yellow needles.  Although the larch it not native, is it widely planted and its bright green, soft spring foliage and red young cones make it stand out from the rest.  It is also unusual in being a conifer that looses its needles in Autumn.  Most conifers drop them in small numbers all year round and are adapted to cope in winter with their full compliment of greenery.

The oak waits until November to put on its best Autumn show of colour, having only made a tentative start in October.  The acorns rain down this month, often relying on jays and grey squirrels to disperse them.  There are two main types of British oak; the sessile and the pedunculate oak.  In the former, the acorns are borne in cups, with almost no stalk attaching them to the stem.  In the later, however, the acorn cups are attached with shared long stalks.  The sessile oak is the more likely or the two to be found in the uplands of the west and the north.  Other species, such as the holm oak (also known as the evergreen oak), are foreign imports, but are quite widespread.

At this time of year the black bryony stems thread through the hedgerows, supporting their clusters of fat, poisonous red berries.

	black bryony berries

Although gardens may hang on to late flowers there is very little colour to be seen amongst the native plant species.  The last of the summer bird migrants leave but now the trees are bare it is easier to spot the residents and winter migrants.  Amongst the most likely birds to be seen in the gardens, woodlands and fields are flocks of roaming tits and finches (such as chaffinch and brambling).  These are often joined by the occasional tree creeper and nuthatch.  With every year that passes there are more reports of blackcaps and even chiffchaffs over wintering; you may be lucky to see them amongst these flocks.  Rooks and crows seem to be everywhere once out of town, and jays and magpies are hard to miss also.

With the trees bare it it now much easier to see the extent of rookeries, that is the groups of nests high in the trees.  Rooks will often be seen around the rookery even now.  Perhaps they keep one eye on their own nests and one beady eye on the attractive sticks used in their neighbours' nests.  Or it may just be that they find it convenient to roost in or around the trees where they nest. 

At this time of year, and through to the beginning of spring, winter thrushes (redwings and fieldfares) can also be abundant but are easily disturbed if you approach.  They start to arrive about now and feast on hawthorn berries particularly.  Perhaps the highlights of the birding world during winter is to be seen on the lakes and estuaries.  Waders and wildfowl can be super abundant having migrated from arctic regions following the breading season.
 

sulphur tuft fungus

old man's beard

bracket fungus