October in Haworth

October is the month where autumn is now well underway and early morning frosts are a reminder of winter to come. The days will become noticeably shorter as the month progresses. Autumn colour can be seen as the trees and hedgerow leaves change.

What to see

Garden birds such as the Blackbird, Blue Tit and Robin will be seen more frequently as their need to find food increases. This time of year is a good time to start feeding them. The start of the month Meadow Pipits can sometimes be seen in large numbers as they migrate to other areas. Redwing and Fieldfare will be migrating from Northern Europe to winter in Britain.

The leaves on Trees and hedgerows start to change colour to a yellow - gold colour. The reason why this happens is that during the summer when there is plenty of sunlight the leaves produce chlorophyll This is the green you see and it converts the sunlight into energy. The red orange pigment is there in the leaf but is covered up by the green, in the autumn there is less light and so the making of chlorophyll stops and the green fades away to reveal the red - orange colours underneath. As the tree canopy is gradually lost Grey Squirrels can be seen moving around in woods, busy looking for acorns.

This is the time Jays are also active burying acorns to eat during the winter.

October is a good time to see fungi, cool damp days you will find many types in woodland and fields.

Fewer insect will be seen as the cold weather sets in, early in the month if the weather is warm you can still see butterflies such as Red Admiral.

Haworth-village.org.uk/nature