Here in Appleton Wiske, you don’t even have to leave home to see some wildlife. One morning as I was washing up, a grub came swinging down on a silken thread, right before my eyes in the kitchen window. The grub alighted on the windowsill – where a spider ran out from a crack in the frame to take a look.
I guess the spider didn’t like the grub, because the spider ran back, and the grub proceeded to work its way across the sill, towards the ledge. It was a tiny grub; here’s a picture of it as it traverses across a fallen ash seed:
Grub on my windowsill
Venturing out of the house, there have been lots of dramatic skyscapes as the weather turns. The sky is full of dark rain clouds, but as the sun sinks lower in the sky, flashes of sunlight break underneath the clouds, illuminating the fiery colours of the autumn leaves.
A flash of sunlight illuminates autumn leaf colours
The rain is filling the rivers and ditches, and winds stripping those leaves from the trees.
The fields are no longer humming with insects – but there are some tiny ones that whizz around my feet as I disturb them in the grass as I walk. When the rain stops, larger insects still come out – even the odd butterfly. Here are some pictures:
Harvestman on a dandelion on a field path
There have even been a few butterflies, when the sun does come out.
Tortoisshell butterfly on a dock leaf in a paddock of horses
The birds are on the move. All through the month, I’ve been watching for the seagulls that normally come to follow the ploughs. But this year, the only seagulls I’ve seen have been emitting distressed squawks, while being chased by gangs of crows. The crows have won: I saw no seagulls following the ploughs here this year – but plenty of crows picking over the freshly ploughed soil.
Now the new autumn sown crops are coming up – and the crows are still in fields, busy feeding.
Other birds have been in the fields too. Most of the birds have disappeared from my garden, I guess because there are richer pickings in the fields. But they’ll be back.