Autumn to Winter
/It’s amazing the difference a few days make. It’s a lot easier to see the birds up in the surrounding beech and birch trees now after the first frosts have encouraged the remaining leaves to fall.
We may be a couple of maples short of New England, but there are lovely Autumn colours in the garden this week from the Willow, Silver Birches and Beech around the garden boundary. Birds in the garden have dropped off quite a bit and the feeders are mostly quiet, but there has been some visible migration overhead, particularly of fieldfares, redwings and skylarks. When the weather turns cold again I expect the small birds will brave the neighbourhood cats and the regular sparrowhawk to come into the garden again.
My first Guide duty at Greystones Farm, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust reserve for a month or so, and it was a beautiful Cotswold morning. The hedges are yawning with berries, including wild hops - not something you come across too often. Lovely colours, and lots of food for wintering birds later in the Autumn. Some bird passage was in evidence, with a fly-over Meadow Pipit and a flock of Pied Wagtails, with one White Wagtail, feeding around the cattle.
Passionate about nature, based in Gloucestershire UK; this site is about creating a wildlife friendly family garden and exploring the diversity of animal & plant species that share it with us.
As a nature lover and wildlife gardener I started wondering about the biodiversity in my backyard and just how many species from plants to insects to birds to mammals might live in or visit it.
Much of the wildlife in my small, village garden has been present right under my nose for years without my really appreciating it, so on the way I am learning a lot about different species and how to make a wildlife-friendly environment for them; also getting engaged more in conservation activities around Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and the Cotswolds.
My garden species tally started from zero on June 1st 2018, the target was 1000 species, which I eventually hit in June 2024. But there’s still plenty to see and learn about.
I'm very interested in your comments & advice: whether it's about the blog, some help with identification or just how to make my own little Eden better for wildlife. So please leave a comment or drop me a line if you feel like it!
Graham Tompsett
microedenproject@gmail.com
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