Wildlife Blog by Ron Allen – 10th September 2021

Autumn fruits and a butterfly

A short walk around our village green soon illustrates that Autumn is with us providing a range of fruits and seeds along the hedgerows.

Honeysuckle is now showing its brilliant red berries (image 1) and the wild clematis is both in flower (image 2) and developing its fruits (image 3) which are soon to form into silvery ‘old man’s beards’.  Very welcome are the bramble berries or blackberries (image 4).

The dog rose flowers have gone and being replaced by brilliant red ‘hip’ berries (image 5). Ivy is now in full bud (image 6) and will soon be producing nectar rich flowers as a rich source of nectar late in the year.  Lower down at the base of the hedges the creeping thistles are producing large quantities of thistledown releasing umbrella-like seeds into the air with every puff of wind (image 7).

The hedgerow hawthorns are now rich in their orange-red ‘haw’ berries (image 8) and the blackthorn bushes have fresh sloe-berries with their coating of bluish bloom.

Finally, the ragwort is producing a welcome source of early autumn nectar and the bright yellow flowers are a magnet for many insects including this common blue butterfly. The common blue (image 10) has been far from common this year and so it was really good to see this fine butterfly enjoying the sun and nectar.