I can’t wait to…

...SPOT NATURE’S STOCKPILERS

I’m keeping a beady eye open for a familiar tree-dwelling rodent this month; a flash of bushy tail as it scampers into the branches with a hazelnut between its teeth.

Not being hibernators, squirrels need to cache food over autumn – buried or stashed in tree trunk crevices.

But it’s not just Squirrel Nutkin and his grey cousins who are busy putting something away for the cold months ahead. Corvids like the magpie and the jay are stocking up too. Active at night, wood mice are hoarding seeds in underground larders, while moles store surplus earthworms – decapitated, but alive – in special chambers. Philip Thomas, Features Writer

…SMELL FALLEN LEAVES

The carpet that newly covers the ground in a deciduous forest at this time of year is known as litterfall. Leaf tissue makes up 70% of this. It’s the scent of that foliage, freshly fallen and still recognisable, that I love; that rich, musky-sweet smell of autumn. There is only one way to really get your nose twitching and that’s to lay down on your front in that surprisingly clean and welcoming layer. The beautiful smell is the start of the creation of one of the most important organisms on the planet: soil. Breathe deep and be comforted.

Tom Bailey, Photographer

… HEAR TAWNY OWLS

Odes have been dedicated to the nightingale’s song, but my favourite bird sound is the hoot of the tawny owl.

There’s a wistfulness to its quavering whoo-hoo that brings me out in goosebumps. But there’s something comical too, as it can sound just like the spooky ghost noise a kid in fancy dress at a Halloween party might make. Now is a great time to hear hooting – and shrieking and kee-wicking – as the summer’s young try and assert their own territories. They start piping up at twilight, but to really feel at one with these nocturnal birds try lingering in the woods after darkness falls. Jenny Walters, Features Editor