Wildlife Safari
Autumn is a sad time of year for some, but for me it is a special time. The softer, mellow light of this season is very unique and introduces a more relaxed atmosphere to the garden. The sun is still quite warm and the garden is alive with the buzz of insects, busy gathering nectar from late flowering perennials in this golden autumn sunshine.
One reason I grow so much Ivy in my garden is to see the spectacular mass gathering of bees, wasps, flies and of course butterflies. Ivy in October is the last chance for most insects to feast on such bounty, it is very rich in nectar and is followed by equally valuable black berries in January. This is at a time when most other food sources are fast becoming exhausted.
The birds are beginning to sing again after their summer moult. Notable of these is the wistful song of the Robin. This particular bird is well known for singing at the dead of night and if often mistaken for the Nightingale by non-birding types. I have heard robins singing quite loudly at all times of night, so it is easy to understand the confusion amongst some.
The large and beautiful garden cross spider's voluminous webs, are everywhere, glistening with dew in the colder, autumn morning light. This is the best time to view these architectural masterpieces at close quarters, their intricate structure being revealed to perfection. It is the female that does the hunting. The bold warning colours of the wasps are quite lost on her. She will however, reject certain creatures and reject them very quickly. Harvestmen, for example are released immediately from the web if they become trapped. Having tasted one of these unpleasant animals, the spider usually rushes off to clean her fags on some nearby leaves.
Before returning to the garden itself, it is worth remembering that our garden wildlife is important to the welfare of our gardens in so many ways. We all tend to concentrate on the known garden pests, such as slugs, snails, aphids etc., but without this very complex web of life within our gardens successful gardening would not be possible. Bees of course pollinate our fruit, wasps are voracious predators of many garden pests, so their wayward behaviour, particularly at this time of year, is a small price to pay. The humble ground beetle is another friend of the hard-pressed gardener, eating prodigious quantities of slugs.
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