Autumn wildlife

Autumn is a season of upheavals: suddenly empty fields and the dramatically changing colour of leaves before they fall. If you look carefully, you can see wildlife on the move, sometimes travelling thousands of miles, sometimes hiding away before for the cold, dark days. For many animals, it's the end of life: only the next generation will see the spring. Now that we've made the most of summer (we hope) here are our tips for what to look out for in autumn - including some great activities for granchildren - compiled by Peter Holden, who came in for a very popular birdwatching webchat on Gransnet and also wrote our guide to what to look out for in the countryside in July and August.

Heading south

Bird migration began back in June with the first lapwings appearing on the fields, followed by the departure of   most of the swifts during August. Other small birds such as warblers slip away, mostly unnoticed, during September. Before they leave, some are tucking into the harvest of ripening berries, while others are making the most of the late flush of insects.

As I write, in mid-September, there are still swallows on the wires, but they will soon be away on their flight to South Africa – a 6,000 mile journey that will take them about six weeks. Theirs is a slow journey compared with the tiny sedge warbler, which will fly non-stop across much of Europe, the Mediterranean and the Sahara desert before reaching its wintering grounds in West Africa.

Out of the north

Millions of small birds will leave Europe and head for Africa each autumn, but many more will arrive from further north. The British Isles hosts internationally-important populations of wildfowl – ducks geese and swans – from their Arctic breeding grounds. Our relatively moderate climate, food-rich wetlands and large estuaries will be winter home for impressive numbers of these birds

In many parts of Britain, autumn is announced by the arrival of the first skeins of migrant geese – an evocative sight, whether it is white-fronts on the Severn Estuary, barnacle geese on the Solway or pink-feet on the Firth of Forth and along the Norfolk coast.

Smaller birds also arrive here: thrushes such as redwings and fieldfares from Iceland and Scandinavia come here for our crop of hedgerow berries. Even tiny goldcrests, our smallest birds, will fly across the North Sea to reach the "balmy" coast of eastern Britain. They may lose half their body weight making this life-threatening journey, so it has to be worthwhile.

Not just birds

Other migrations may seem less impressive - like the common toad leaving its pond and heading off to its local wood or other hibernation site. But this journey of a kilometre or more is just as awesome as wildebeest crossing the Serengeti - and the wildebeests don’t have busy roads to negotiate...

Lost and found

Some migrant birds will become disorientated, usually due to adverse weather during their journey. These may turn up thousands of miles off-route. Each year a sprinkling of North American birds cross the Atlantic by mistake and arrive here, causing excitement for "twitchers".

Joining up

Many birds that don't migrate change their habits in autumn: birds that defended territories in summer may well adopt communal living in autumn and winter. Small birds like tits travel about in loose flocks and others, like starlings, form huge evening roosts. Brighton pier and the Somerset levels are just two of the places where this spectacle can be seen.

Colour and beauty in the country

As the last flowers fade, the few remaining ones such as Michaelmas daisy attract the last butterflies - comma, small tortoiseshell and red admiral. Ivy is usually the last plant to flower and its strong scent of nectar attracts bees, wasps and, these days, hornets, as well as many butterflies. If you have a chance to allow a bit of ivy to flourish in your garden, notice how it only flowers when it reaches the tops of whatever it is climbing, and how popular these green flowers are with insects.

Dragonflies always surprise me when I see them in autumn – some survive through September and into October and in mild weather they can last into November. Some are numerous, like the Common Darter, with its dull red body, some territorial like the large blue-bodied Emperor. They feed by catching other smaller insects in flight but, in early autumn, many dragonflies are food themselves – for the Hobby, a small falcon that catches and eats dragonflies on the wing.

These dragonflies are doomed, of course. None will survive the winter. But they have laid their eggs in the water and the next generation of nymphs will be busy terrorising pools and streams next spring. They are voracious predators on small water creatures, including tadpoles.

Detective work

As the leaves come off the trees, prepare to be surprised at where birds have nested. Suddenly their old nests are exposed in places you would have never expected – greenfinches at tops of hedges, goldfinches on out-most branches and blackbirds close to paths you used in summer without ever suspecting a nest lay close by.

Finding food

The countryside has changed significantly in recent decades and one very recent and dramatic shift has been the introduction of autumn sowing of cereal crops. In the past, fields usually remained as stubble or "plough" for the whole winter. These unsown fields provided food and shelter for many birds, from partridges to linnets. Modern combine harvesters do not leave much spare seed for wildlife and any stubble is quickly ploughed in and crops re-planted. Birds that once gleaned these fields have had a bad time and many are in decline.

These countryside changes mean feeding birds in gardens becomes even more important. Conservationists now recommend some feeding all year round; and feeding in early autumn will help ensure the survival of this year’s young. It you have not got your feeders and peanuts out yet, now is the time to start, well ahead of the winter.

Activities for everyone

Of all the seasons, autumn is time to use our senses. Not just "what can you see?", but "what can you smell?" and "how does it feel?" are good questions to think about.

Autumn walks in woods have to be one of life’s pleasures. The crunch of crisp leaves, the warm scent of decay, the sound of falling nuts and the sight of fungi – so many wonderful shapes, colours and textures to please the eyes and relax the mind.

If you can take some little people with you as well there is plenty to do. Some ideas for activities:

• Things to do with leaves: hide in them, make a leaf picture, take a paint mixing colour chart into the wood and see how many shades you can find (and what they are called!).
• Take close-up digital photos of fungi.
• Collect moulted birds feathers and mount then in photo album (wash hands after!).
• Spot and count the old birds’ nests in a long hedge after the leaves have fallen.
• Make a small collection of seeds and nuts – what might eat them?
• How do these nuts and berries get carried away from their parent tree or bush? (clues: rolling, buried by animals, blown by the wind, eaten and dropped in poo, caught on fur etc).
• Make a bird feeding station – how can it attract the maximum number of birds.
• Visit a wildfowl site where large flocks of birds have arrived – dress up warm!
• Count flocks of gulls as they go into a local lake, reservoir or estuary for the night at what time do you see the largest numbers?
• Find where starlings are roosting and take a child to see the evening spectacle.

…but there are many more autumn activities - do you have any favourites to share?