Late Autumn Wildlife

This is what sunrise looks like at 8am from our bedroom window, a big triple-glazed window which slides open to a veranda on which, sadly, we find....

....the occasional bird which has seen sky reflected in the glass, and collided with it. This wren recovered after about a quarter of an hour but we need to put more decals on the glass to prevent these collisions happening.

In no danger of colliding with anything are these great skeins of high-flying pink-footed geese on their daily migrations from Loch Fleet to the harvested barley fields to the north of us. What we haven't yet seen are the redwing and fieldfare migrants for which....

....this year's terrific berry crop will be very welcome.

If the berry crop is prolific, the same cannot be said for the fungi, which continue to be disappointing. Blackening wax caps, like this one, are one of the few species which seem to be doing well.

There are still wildflowers to be found, like ragwort and campion, and a few insects feeding on them, including this caterpillar and the occasional bee which can still be found enjoying the verbena in our garden.

The squirrels are very busy, and we're seeing them regularly as we walk down Squirrel Alley. If you can see it, this is a young one, possibly one of this year's brood. He didn't like us getting close but, unlike the adults, he didn't head for the forestry but stayed up a tree watching until we left.