September
Goldfinches
Did you know that the name for a goldfinch flock is a ‘charm’! Goldfinches will flock to teasel heads in the early autumn to prepare to migrate south for the winter. Their sharp, tweezer-like beaks are perfectly adapted for picking seeds from teasel heads. They can often be seen balancing on flowerheads to pluck the seeds before they are ripe. In the winter British goldfinches migrate south to Belgium and France. They return to the UK in March-April.
Shrews
Shrews have spent the summer months feeding on lots of insects and breeding so their numbers are at a peak during September. Shrews are solitary hunters but with so many shrews about, all searching for their own feeding territory, they are bound to run into each other. When they do you can hear high-pitched squeaking ringing out over the long grass. Each shrew needs to eat 90% of its body weight per day in food so it is vital they defend their space to hunt in. The squealing might sound cute to us but it is serious business to the shrews!
Yarrows
Look out for flowering yarrows during the month of September. You will find yarrow on roadside verges. This tough species produces flowers long after other flowers have faded. Its success is due to its very deep roots, which allows it to survive summer droughts and because it is a prolific seed producer. Large yarrows can produce more than 3000 seeds!
Pond Snails
There are three pond snail species to look out for in the ponds at Skelton Grange 1.) the great pond snail, which is the largest pond snail in Britain. It has a shiny yellowish brown shell with a tall pointed spire. They can be seen floating upside-down on the surface taking in air. 2.) the wandering snail, which has an oval or rounded shell with the last whorl relatively large and expanded. It is pale brown but has darker blotches. Its tentacles are broad, flattened and look like ears! 3.) the ramshorn snail, which has a simple flat coil with no spire or point. Most are less than 1 cm across.
Fly Agaric
Fly agaric appears in large numbers in September. It is one of Britain’s most attractive fungi, looking like a classic fairytale toadstool. Fly agarics are poisonous. They can cause the delusion that surrounding objects are larger than they really are, causing the victim to make exaggerated leaps to clear the object. This effect was first noted in reindeer. The underground part of the fly agaric’s mycelium (the main body of the fungi) forms a symbiotic association with birch roots. So look out for fly agaric near birch trees.
Sawfly Larvae
Before the leaves of willow trees begin to fall look out for red ‘bean galls’ on the leaf blades. They are homes to sawfly larva and this is the second generation produced this year. The first generation developed from eggs laid on leaf buds in spring and hatched into adults in July. The current generation will develop into adults in the soil once the leaves have fallen from the tree.
