Autumn

Early autumn, before the leaves start to change colour and fall to the ground, is the time for berries, fruits and seeds. Woodlands produce much more than just timber with food being one of the many woodland products. Crab apples, hazel nuts, cobnuts, sweet chestnuts and blackberries can all be found in woodlands. Trees have also been an important source of food for livestock. Beech mast and acorns, which can be produced in large quantities, are excellent food for pigs.

With the abundance of food around, most birds and animals will be eating or storing as much as they can, and many migratory birds will be leaving the woods after building up their reserves of fat. Winter visitors will start to arrive – expect to see redwings, fieldfares, chaffinches and brambling.

Mid to late autumn is when tree and wildflower seeds are collected commercially to produce local provenance seeds, plants and young trees for planting new woodlands in years to come.

October is the best month to start looking for fungi. They can be found on leaf mould, fallen branches and trees, on standing trees or just growing out of the ground. You may, and smell, the strange stinkhorn that is common in shady woods. Edible fungi such as ceps, wood blewits and chanterelle along with the poisonous bright red spotted fly agaric are all common at this time of year so take advice from an expert before eating anything.

By late autumn, many woodland animals are hibernating; bats in holes in trees, hedgehogs in a pile of leaves or under a fallen tree, and some butterflies in old buildings or the gaps in drystone walls.

Many woodland craftspeople have their busiest season starting in late August, as hedge-layers, coppicers and charcoal burners keep traditions alive. Autumn is also the time when sites are cleared, drained and fenced in preparation for the following winter’s tree planting programme.