As autumn begins to take hold here on the Yorkshire Wolds, I’ve been watching the wildlife get ready for the coming winter. The birds in my garden in Thixendale, North Yorkshire, are already feasting up on insects, seeds and berries as they prepare for the long cold nights.
Birds feast
Outside my art studio a pair of bullfinches gorge on bright red honeysuckle berries. One of Britain’s most beautiful birds, the males are easily identifiable from their plump, rose-red breasts and black caps.In spite of this bright plumage, it takes me a moment to spot them in the green-gold foliage. Instead, I’m drawn to their soft contact calls, a melancholy sound that seems to express the shy, secretive nature of these birds.
I head outdoors and within moments a robin darts at my feet demanding mealworms. This particular bird is a regular in my garden and I expect it to stay through the winter when I will keep up a supply of food to help it through the harsh days ahead. In the trees above, catching my eye as they snap up insects amidst yellow crab apples and red hawthorn and guelder are great tits and blue tits. These birds also do the rounds of my window frames, looking for spiders in all the nooks and crannies.
Squirrels stash their hoards
I venture across the Yorkshire Wolds valley beyond my garden to a nearby ash woodland. A few years ago, I spent a winter developing this copse for wildlife, digging a pond and putting up nest boxes for the birds of prey that live here. It’s now a wonderful place to watch wildlife. As I approach a bird feeder I installed there, I spot a squirrel leap out from behind a tree. It’s ambushing male pheasants that are hoovering up the spilled seeds beneath. I stand stock still and watch the interaction. Pheasants can be very aggressive, but this squirrel isn’t afraid in the least.
Then the squirrel disappears into a box I fashioned from an old ash tree for tawny owls to nest in. The box is fitted with camaras so that I can follow the daily dramas of these birds’ lives. When I spot a second squirrel chase the first into the box, I suspect there could be a fight. Both animals are probably looking for a place to build a dray to shelter in during the winter and this owl nest would be just right.
I make a note to watch the footage from my cameras later. Sure enough, when I do, I see the first squirrel swipe at the second as it drops headlong into the box. The two then wrestle, with the intruder still hanging upside down. Squirrels are feisty animals and although their inverted battle is amusing to watch, I’m thankful it is quickly resolved and neither animal remains inside, since I know that later that evening a tawny owl could return here.
Tawny owls hoot on autumn nights
It’s too early in the day to hear the tawny owls but at night this woodland can be a noisy place as the parent owls aggressively chase off their young, encouraging them to find new territories. It’s a fascinating transformation since normally tawny owls are very attentive parents. This year a tawny pair named Bonnie & Ozzy brought up four adorable owlets here and, having watched how lovingly they cared for them, it will be strange to listen to them hoot and shriek at their young.
As I wonder how this will play out, I notice a roe deer, quickly followed by another, pad quietly through the wood, kicking up autumn leaves with their hooves as they pass the pond. I hold my breath momentarily to watch this secretive moment from my position by the feeder.
Badgers curl up in underground dens
As I make my way back home, I notice a badger shuffling along a well-worn path. Although badgers don’t hibernate, they spend more time in their underground sett once the nights get longer and tend to feed up in autumn to be ready for the prolonged cold. This one seems in a hurry and as I watch it head out into the fields to forage, I’m amazed not for the first time how fast these bumbling creatures can go.
I take one last look at the leaves above me, turning a darkening, yellow green. Meanwhile at my feet honey mushrooms grow on fallen branches and the woodland floor is slowly becoming a carpet of red and gold.
And a stoat sleeps on a bed of leaves
Back in my art studio, I watch the squirrels on the TV monitors linked to the nest cameras. Next to this monitor there is another showing a weasel dragging crisp, dry leaves into a nest I made from fallen logs. I watch, charmed as the tiny creature curls up inside this warm autumnal nest and keep watching as it falls fast asleep, limbs akimbo.
And barn owls prepare for winter cold
Outside a barn owl perches on a nearby branch, the buff-gold feathers on its back offsetting the autumn colours of the Yorkshire Wolds backdrop. This is Gylfie, a female owl who has now raised generations of barn owls here at Fotherdale. I watch her lift off into the darkening sky and wonder what the night’s hunting has in store for her.
And hedghogs get ready to hibernate
Beneath a hedgehog snuffles about in the borders. These animals are feeding up on worms and beetles in preparation for their winter hibernation. In winters past I’ve taken in tiny hoglets, born too late in the season and consequently too small to survive the coming cold. Once a common sight in most gardens, these animals now face extinction and need our help more than ever. This time of year is particularly dangerous for them since this is when gardeners tend to tidy up for winter and they can tragically end up in bonfires.
Remembering the hoglets I have rescued in the past, I make a note to keep on the lookout for any that may need extra help this year.
Before I turn in, I stop to admire the scene. A mist is rolling in up the valley, softening the brilliance of the autumn leaves and bringing with it a chill. I wish the wild creatures well during the coming winter and look forward to seeing what the next breeding season will bring.
