Nature in September
There is a lot of activity going on with wildlife in September.
September is one of the busiest months for nature and wildlife.
The successful crops of natural and farmed fruits and vegetables bring out a variety of insects and animals to feast on them. September brings the end of the growing period, so the race is on by everyone to eat as much as they can before winter. Increasing your chances of seeing animals and insects. Some plants have evolved to bear bright coloured fruit specifically for insects, birds and animals to eat, solely for the purpose of having their seeds scattered around the countryside. They are scattered by being eaten in one place and pooped or dropped in another place, where a new plant can grow.
The increase of butterflies and dragonflies bring a variety of birds including flocks of swallows and house martins you usually see lined up on telegraph wires and amongst the reed beds. They feed on both the insects and the fruits which will help to prepare them for their vast journey to warmer continents for the winter months.
Bats also eat the insects as they start the race to gain enough weight to see them through winter.
September is the start of mushrooms appearing in your gardens and in the wild. Apart from slugs and insects there are a lot of animals that eat mushrooms including. Deer, rabbits, pigs and wild boar. The biggest thing to remember is that there are a lot of similar looking mushrooms and toadstools, some of which are poisonous. So make sure you know what each are before you eat any.
The young water voles start emerging from their nests to forage. At the same time vegetation around the river banks die back, making the water voles more susceptible to attack from birds of prey, pine martins, foxes etc.
September is not just about feeding. Male deer start their fighting, called rutting. When the deer are in their rutting season, it is very wise to keep well out of the way. A normally shy and docile deer can become violent and dangerous due to the increased hormones.
Bottle nose dolphins give birth in late August and with their young, they switch from migratory salmon and head to the shores around the UK to feed on the vast shoals of mackerel and herring. The mackerel and herring head to the UK shores from the North Sea. Bottle nose dolphin swap their diet because eating the mackerel and herring help them produce much thicker and richer milk for their young.
September marks the end of regular jellyfish sightings around the UK. Jellyfish can be found in large groups, called blooms. They can generally be spotted around the UK from April to September.
One part of September that could be bad, especially if you are like my human, is the start of the breeding season of spiders, which is why we see more of them in our homes around this time of year.
