It may have had a couple of false starts, the odd warm patch, but finally autumn is here. Woods full of colour. Autumn in a location so far removed from what we are used to, is making autumn this year, such an exciting one. We’re use to the colours of the Chilterns. Here Beech woods are replaced, with glens full of Birch. Rowans with their red berries line many of the roads near us.
The mushrooms which grew in such perfusion in the garden are finally coming to an end. Several early trips to find rutting Red Deer came to nothing. This year’s weather patterns mean that food is still available to the deer on the tops, none have moved to the lower river valleys. So apart from the odd deer in the extreme distance, we have lucked out. But exploring autumn here in the highlands is a challenge. Summer kept us busy, but now the season has changed we can gain a whole new perspective.
Another late arrival this autumn; are the Redwings. We saw the first few, late last week, over fields about half a mile away. But at the weekend we had a large flock of 100 plus individuals settling in the Rowan trees, just down the road. Today; we’ve been watching large flocks, in the woods stripping berries. This arrival of the Redwings from the continent signals a change in the weather. Redwings migrate to the UK, as the snow and ice approaches there summer breeding grounds.
The local population of Red Squirrels is on the move. Over the last few weeks we have seen individuals moving through the garden. This prompted a mad rush to buy suitable feeders and get them into position. We now wait to see if we can tempt a passing Red Squirrel to make our wood its home.
One of the highlights of an evening is watching Badgers visiting the garden. Over the course of a few weeks; we’ve got them used to the house and it’s outside lights. Next; is getting them use to photographic flashes. Our caution is perhaps a bit over the top, but the last thing we want, is to scare them. We have started to be able to identify individual Badgers visiting the garden. One of our regular visitors is a Badger we have named Big Bum. It is one of the largest individuals paying us a visit and is growing bigger almost by the day, in preparation for winter. We think Big Bum was responsible for a night-time raid, on our peanut store. Luckily only about half a kilo of peanuts went missing, believed eaten. We have preparations well in hand for a high security peanut store to be installed over the next few days, in an attempt to thwart further night-time burglaries.
We had a mighty scare Saturday morning. On our way to the shops, we came across a dead Badger on the side of the road, just opposite the boundary of our wood. We couldn’t tell if it was an individual that we knew. It was a worrying time until sunset and we could see who would pay us a visit. We were so glad to see Big Bum that night.
Everyone needs reminding that with shortening days, we are more likely to be out and about in our cars after dark. On our country roads, we all need to take extra care. Maybe back off the speed just a little. Is taking 5 minutes longer to complete your journey, really going to matter that much? So much of our wildlife is being killed and injured by our cars. Winter and the dark nights are the time of greatest danger, help save our wildlife and take care on country roads.
Badger foraging at night captured on a Trail camera
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