The summer months are over and autumn has crept upon us. I love this season, the change of colours from greens to reds, oranges and gold’s makes it one of my favourite times of year. For some of the best shows of colour look out for birch and beech trees as their leaves turn brilliant shades of yellow and orange, and on Hazeley Heath the bracken looks its best when changing into its autumn fronds.
One of the first things I associate with the autumn is fungi. With well over a thousand different species of fungi in the UK they can be very tricky to identify, many of them looking very similar. An easy one to spot however is the Shaggy Inkcap. This mushroom has a long, white cylindrical cap with shaggy, upturned, brownish scales. I often see these fungi on the gras
sland area of Hazeley Heath, but they can also be found on lawns, roadsides, recently disturbed soils and wood chips. They are an edible species; however they can only be eaten when they are very young or straight after picking. As the fungi ages the underside begins to liquefy, the gills becoming black. If you poke your finger into the underside of this fungi you will get an inky residue, hence the name Inkcap. It will also auto digest itself only after a few hours of being picked, so it needs to be cooked and used straight away. This fungus also goes by the name of Shaggy Mane, Inky Top and Lawyers Wig due to its characteristic appearance. One must always be exceptionally careful when picking any fungi species to eat, as many of them are poisonous. A close relative of the Shaggy Inkcap is the Common Inkcap or Tipplers Bane. It is so named as it is poisonous when consumed with alcohol, potentially causing heart palpitations and vomiting. The symptoms can occur if even a small amount of alcohol is consumed up to 3 days after eating the mushrooms and continue for over a week.
Now autumn doesn’t automatically make you think of invertebrates, but one that is best seen in late August through to October is the Bog Bush Cricket. This cricket comes in 2 colour forms, green and brown, but you are more likely to see it in its beautiful green with a characteristic green underbelly. The
y are easily distinguishable from Grasshoppers by their long antennae, which is much longer than their bodies. They live on wet heaths, especially with plenty of Purple Moor Grass, which they use to lay their eggs. They like a diverse range of heathland plants as a feeding source, including species such as Heather and Cross-Leaved Heath. The fact that we find Bog Bush Crickets on Hazeley Heath is one indication of a healthy habitat. They are most easily spotted by listening for singing males and then looking carefully for the source of the sound. The song is a series of short chirps. Once one singing male has been found you can usually see a good few more in that same area.
As for birds this autumn one of my favourites is the Brambling. This very attractive bird is a similar size to a Chaffinch and as a winter migrant it is just beginning to arrive from mid-September onwards. The male has a lovely orange breast with white belly. Later in the season they may arrive in large numbers, often forming flocks of thousands of birds, depending on the food supply. Look out for them eating seeds in beech woodlands or on farmland fields near woodland edges, often joined by flocks of chaffinches. If food is scarce you may even be lucky enough to see one in your garden.
Another such finch is the Siskin. This is a small, pretty, lively bird that has a forked tail and long narrow bill. The male has a streaky yellow-green body and a black crown and bib. In many places in the country it is a resident bird, breeding in large numbers in Scotland and Wales. However in Hartley Wintney you are more likely to see them during the autumn and winter months when birds from the rest of Europe fly in to swell their numbers and spend their winter in the UK. They eat the seeds from trees such as conifers, birch and alder and will also take some insects.
One species that feeds many others at this time of year is the Blackthorn. The fruit of the Blackthorn are called sloes, and traditionally they are picked in October and November after the first frosts. They have a very sharp, most would say unpleasant flavour, when eaten raw, but can be used to make jam and a variety of alcoholic beverages, my personal favourite being sloe gin! In Spain a popular liquor called Patxaran is made with sloe berries and wine made from fermented sloes is considered a delicacy in Germany. The foliage of Blackthorn is also an important food source for many of our moth species, including the beautiful Emperor Moth, Common Emerald and the aptly named November Moth, which can be seen flying in October and November.
The range and richness of berries produced in the autumn is fantastic for some of our smaller mammal species. One such creature is the Wood Mouse. This cute looking mammal has dark brown fur, very large eyes and ears and weighs about 30 grams. T
hey can be found in a variety of habitats including fields, hedgerows, forests and grass lands where they can find plenty of food. They will pretty much live anywhere they can find food and shelter, including peoples houses where they can make a pest of themselves. They can eat a wide variety of foods including berries, seeds, invertebrates, worms, and even carrion. They are also an important food source in themselves. They are mostly nocturnal with fantastic hearing and vision, but are often taken by birds such as owls. For this reason they do not live long in the wild, only about 12 months. However they can reproduce very quickly, having many litters a year of up to 7 young, who become independent themselves only after about 4 weeks. This autumn on Hazeley Heath we are having the first ever small mammal survey done, so it will be interesting to see which species are using the Common. Keep your eye out for the winter blog to see the results of this important survey.
September also heralds the start of the winter works season for us rangers. Now the birds have finished nesting we can get on with the important job of maintaining the nature reserves for wildlife and increasing diversity as much as possible. On Hazeley Heath this means controlling the birch and pine scrub through ‘scrub bashing’ parties and on Phoenix Green and West Green Common improving the woodlands through traditional practices such as coppicing and haloing of the veteran Oaks. For more information on the conservation works we do please see the countryside pages of the Hart district Council website.
The reedbeds at fleet pond are designated as a priority habitat in the UK and are home to important plants and animals. Bird species such as the reed warbler and reed buntings are known to nest in the reedbeds every year in good numbers. However over the years if left unmanaged the habitat is lost due to the encroachment of trees and scrub from the surrounding woodland, these create shade as well as drawing up the water from the wetland. Reedbeds are maintained by reed cutting, the reed is cut to encourage the new growth and to reduce the accumulation of old dying reed within the reedbed.
