September’s wildlife highlights

September’s wildlife highlights

As swallows congregate for their migration south, there’s more than a hint of autumn in the air this month. The days shorten and the sun sits lower in the sky, with the autumn equinox  –  when day and night are of equal length – happening on 22 September this year.

September is when the peak fruit picking season begins. The hedgerows are bursting with ripening berries — look out for red hawthorn haws, rose hips, elderberries, and sloes from the blackthorn bush. These attract numerous birds and insects for you to spot when out and about in the New Forest.

You might also see winged seeds floating away from their parent – field maple, sycamore and ash trees. Fallen acorns are eaten by the commoners’ pigs that are turned out for the pannage season from mid-September, helping to protect ponies and cattle for whom the acorns are poisonous. Thank you for giving the pigs a wide berth, whether in a car, on foot or two wheels.

These acorns are also buried in the ground by jays and grey squirrels storing food for the winter months.

The leaves of horse chestnut trees have been browning at the edges for some time, and this month their conkers fall to the ground. Other trees such as ash, beech and sweet chestnut are also slowly changing colour.

They may be less popular than other Forest inhabitants, but craneflies (daddy-long-legs) appear in their greatest numbers in September. Now is also a good time to see hoverflies, wasps and bees; nectar from the late-flowering ivy is an important food source for them.

Dragonflies and damselflies are still on the wing, and their spectacular flying displays as they hunt for insects are a highlight of this month. Along riverbanks and around pools such as Hatchet Pond, Eyeworth Pond and Cadman’s Pool are good places to spot them. You’ll be able to see the larger dragonflies until later in the autumn, but the adults won’t survive the winter.

Fallow bucks and red deer and sika stags begin to return to their traditional rutting areas in the Forest this month, having spent the previous weeks away from the females and their offspring.

Please take extra care driving in and around the Forest for the next couple of months as the deer, which can appear on a road from nowhere at the best of times, will be moving around a lot more and be more unpredictable.

By September, the year’s young bats are weaned and out flying, having spent a few weeks safe in their maternity roosts. They’ll be busy putting on weight for hibernation, while older bats will be thinking about mating again.

September is your last chance to see the hobby before it departs for Africa until next spring. This agile and acrobatic small bird of prey looks like a huge swift with long scythe-like wings and a fairly short tail. Sadly the New Forest hobby population is declining. It is an offence to intentionally or recklessly disturb the birds close to their nest.

Another bird off to Africa this month is the honey buzzard. This rare migratory bird of prey looks similar to the common buzzard but has longer wings and tail.

If you do see a honey buzzard, please record the location, date and time and tell the Hampshire County Bird Recorder at the Hampshire Ornithological Society.

On the coastal estuaries, flocks of wildfowl and wading birds such as curlews and oystercatchers are returning from their summer breeding grounds.

You’ll also see more spiders’ webs in September when they collect the dew drops and sparkle in the morning sunshine. Tawny owls have started hooting at each other to set up their territories.