This Month: British Wildlife in October
With the arrival of October comes a buzz of activity. While the summer migrant birds have left, many species staying in the UK are busy preparing for winter. In the third instalment of this monthly series, Rebecca Gibson shares some of the British wildlife highlights that can be seen during October.
Image by Rebecca Gibson
Birds
From this month, look out for flocks of winter thrushes as they move south. Fieldfares are similar to the more common song thrush but have slate grey and chestnut colouring rather than warm brown. Redwings are easy to identify because they have a patch of red beneath each of their wings. These birds have bred in Iceland and Scandinavia and are now feasting on berries in large groups.
Mammals
As autumn wildlife spectacles go, the red deer rut has got to be one of the most dramatic. Every October, stags battle it out with each other for the right to breed with a harem of females, or hinds. During August and September, stags have been developing thicker necks and shaggy manes in preparation for the rut. While clashing antlers is common, on many occasions rival males will walk alongside each other to gauge their opponent’s strength. It is best to watch the red deer rut during early morning or evening, but be careful not to get too close. Watch safely from a respectful distance and enjoy the sights and sounds of Britain’s largest land mammals as they breed. Check out this Countryfile article for some ideas of where to go to see the red deer rut.
With winter looming, many mammals are busy caching food and building up fat reserves to see them through the cold season. Hazelnuts are now ripening so look out for red squirrels as they forage and horde away their finds for when food is less abundant. As well as hazelnuts, red squirrels feed on seeds from many different trees including pine, larch and spruce. Their diet also consists of fungi, fruits and even birds’ eggs if they get the opportunity.
Image by Rebecca Gibson
Fungi and Flora
Head to the woods this month to see lots of fungi. With more wet weather, fungal fruiting bodies of all shapes and sizes will be emerging. Interestingly, the visible body above ground is only a tiny fraction of the whole fungus – many metres of filaments known as hyphae spread out below the soil and are extremely beneficial for breaking down leaf litter and dead animals. Look for fungi on rotting wood, in particular fallen trees and sodden stumps. You may need to get lower down to see some of the daintier varieties, but they can also be very obvious - the brightly coloured fly agaric (pictured below) is a common example. Some fungus families grow in circles, which are known as ‘fairy rings’ and increase in diameter as the fungus ages.