Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
The beauty and regret of early autumn
NATURE NOTES
September is a month of beauty and regret. The beauty of the fruits and flowers of early autumn is often celebrated with harvest home festivals that date back to pagan times, but the harvest moon towards the end of the month indicates the autumn equinox and shortening days. Many birds are flying south and some of our loveliest butterflies are dying, leaving just memories until next spring or summer.
Adonis blue butterflies were considered close to extinction 45 years ago, with just a few colonies mainly on the coasts of Kent, Sussex and Dorset. Today, they have ventured much further afield in east Kent, and this year were flying on the chalk downs of Barham and Bridge
Their caterpillars feed on horseshoe vetch and have a remarkable relationship with ants, who are attracted by a sugar-like secretion from a gland on the butterfly’s back. In return for the “sugar”, the ants protect the caterpillars from predators, standing guard and covering them with earth at night until they become butterflies. The beautiful adults are often seen seeking nutrients from animal droppings but die in mid September.
Most butterflies had a better year than 2016, but painted ladies and clouded yellows – both summer immigrants from southern Europe and North Africa – were fewer than I expected, perhaps because of a cooler than average August.
Fortunately, red admirals, peacocks and small tortoiseshells will continue to bring pleasure to our gardens throughout the autumn, unless the weather turns unseasonably cold.
September and October are peak months for migrating birds. Swifts were returning to Africa in August, but now swallows and house and sand martins are heading south too, with some pausing for a few days in Spain to build up energy. Wheatears have also been having a late feed before heading for tropical Africa.
Among the most impressive migrants returning to West Africa are the ospreys. They have been seen this year at Sandwich and Dungeness. A few years ago, I spent an unforgettable hour at the Royal Military Canal at Hythe watching an osprey drop down from a tree to catch fish in its talons. I am annoyed to this day that I didn’t have my camera with me.
Other birds arrive here to escape the colder continental climate of Europe. The number of blackbirds and thrushes often doubles during the winter months, and two other thrushes frequently arrive – the fieldfare and the redwing, both quite common in Kent.
A new young robin has staked out the garden. I have been watching it develop its red breast over the past two months, and it is now singing loudly and beautifully to warn other robins that it has claimed the territory.
Three delicate flowers now at their best are the little eyebrights, autumn gentians and autumn lady’s tresses. The English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper claimed that an infusion of eyebright strengthened the brain. Others believed that it improved memory, helped against vertigo, could alleviate eye strain and be used in a poultice for conjunctivitis.
We don’t usually associate gentians with this part of the country, but the lovely autumn gentian grows well here and in some areas mirrors the larger Chiltern gentian. I know of one small bank between Petham and Elmsted where it may grow to almost 30cm (1ft).
Autumn lady’s tresses are aptly named. They are the last of our orchids and usually at their best in September. Their tiny spiralling white flowers smell of coconut. Some years ago, a wonderful population appeared on a lawn in Herne Bay that had not been mown for a while.
This is a time of the year when fungi are appearing in increasing numbers in woods, fields, scrubby land and gardens. Various boletes, brittle gills and milk caps have already been seen but be careful when handling any of these. The highly poisonous amanita death caps, including the blusher, are also occurring.
I have yet to see the children’s favourite, the spotted fly agaric. Although beautiful, it should not be toyed with as it is poisonous and hallucinogenic, which may account for its association with gnomes. It is usually in its prime when the chestnuts are ready.