Autumn 2009 NovemberNovember is here, month of strong winds, of fungi, of wood smoke. A month when dog owners dread firework nights, gardeners build bonfires and make a final onslaught before the winter sets in and spiders make a bid for winter residence indoors.
And strong winds we have, blustering rain, skies marbles in delicate shades of greys, reds and golds. Trees are stripped bare, the soil celebrates the first good soaking it has had for months, mud hampers hill walkers, grass is strew with a confetti of leaves.
Those of us fortunate enough to have log burning stoves trudge through woods with baskets of fallen branches, and perfumed smoke curls like wizards’ ringlets from chimney pots.
I gather wood from my log pile, marvelling at the rich variety and lushness of the fungi that are taking advantage of the cool damp air. On moving a log yesterday, I discovered the underside hung with a couple of large white egg-sacks, delicate silken orbs the size of damsons, the texture of cotton wool. Visible within were many tiny eggs. I discovered one of these a few weeks ago in a badger-tunnel when it’s roof caved in near the shed. It hung from the ceiling as I peered in, on a long silk thread. I suspect, because of the size and location, that these are the eggs of giant cave spiders, Meta menardi, which is very exciting as they are quite rare. I am now being very careful when I gather the logs, and will make a sub-pile in a very sheltered corner for any with egg sacks on, which I can cover with a tarpaulin to recreate the cave-like conditions.
Many flowers still bloom, foxgloves, passion flower, sage, chrysanthemums, red valerian, fuchsia. The berries are plentiful this year, glowing like demons’ eyes from hedgerows and trees.
The days are short, the nights cold, small creatures find piles of leaves to hide in until spring.
In my garden, newly planted, rows of winter cabbage plants, broad beans, peas, garlic, winter salad onions, potatoes and winter salad wait for the cold weather to come, promising to cheer our tables until the new shoots appear in spring.
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Text and photos by Geraldine Aldridge
3rd At the start of the month I went over to the Deer Park, just before I got there I spotted a pheasant on the roof of a barn who was determined to get to the top, the image was just asking to be photographed.
The deer were visible this time, for a while there has been little sight of them and when I have seen them they have been off in the distance so it was rewarding to see them so close.
Here are some fungi growing on a log which I have been unable to identify so if any body knows pleas let me know. Don't forget, never eat fungi.
![Pheasant [cock]](/images/wildlife/n1.jpg "Pheasant [cock]")
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![Pheasant [cock]](/images/wildlife/n2.jpg "Pheasant [cock]")
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4th Over at West Hythe, still some common darters around and probably will be for a little while yet, a little bit of summer hanging on!
The undergrowth looking very autumnal and the hawthorn heavily laden with berries. Can you identify what the white fluffy seeded plant is?
Caught sight of a grey wagtail feeding along the canal bank but I couldn't get a closer view so had to do a bit off enlarging to get this result.
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9th Deer Park on this day and got a sighting of a buzzard flying over the woods near the small lake accompanied by a jackdaw, must be irritating to be frequently mobbed like this.
A heron flew past heading towards the large lake and decided to land high up on one of the trees there looking very prehistoric.
Again the deer were nearer to the main path.
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17th West Hythe. Still common darters around, a couple here perched on oak leaves. Look carefully and see if you can see them? There is a female and a male.
A jay came down and landed on the fence by the sluice gate and stayed long enough for me to get a few shots. They are more visible at the moment as they are feeding on the acorns some of which they bury for later in the hope they will find them again!
Lots of moorhens by a new pond in the field on the south side of the canal, more here than you see on the canal!
Got a nice shot of a male blackbird feeding on hawthorn berries by the canal, hopefully I should soon be seeing fieldfares and readwings like this.
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21st Russel Gardens. This is all ways a good place to see some wildlife, the lake has coots, moorhens, mallards, mute swans, little grebes, black-headed gulls and herons on a regular basis plus other visitors
and in the summer there is ample insect life.
On this day there were plenty of coots around a few moorhens a duck of mixed breed and mallards. On walking along to the far end I could see three young herons, one on the bank on this side of the lake and two in a tree on the other side. Also not far from them on the lake I could see a young little grebe hunting and there was another one nearer to me as well, it didn't seem long ago that they were chicks and pestering there parents for food!
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25th Went over to West Hythe while there was some good weather as it's been very wet recently, flooding up in Cumbria. There was still some common darters around and it's not far off December!
When I got back to the bridge I decided to continue along the canal to wards Hythe. Not far along I noticed what at first I thought was a little gull on the canal but once I had a good look at it I realized it was something I hadn't seen before. After taking some shots of it I walked a little further to see what else was around. Didn't see anything interesting so made my way back to the car park keeping my eyes open for the mystery bird but no luck.
Decided to go over to the Deer Park to see what I could see. Lots of pheasants and red-legged partridges around, just as I was walking into the park I had a glimpse of a fox by the fence and the pheasants were kicking up a noise as you would expect. I don't think it had any luck!
Lots of fallow deer not far from the path with two stags, took some shots the best shown here.
When I got back I down loaded my photos and looked up the mystery bird and it turned out to be a grey phalarope. This bird breeds up in Iceland and then travels down to the south Atlantic in the winter and some times stops off in the UK on its way through, not very common so I was lucky.
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