We had our first frost of the autumn last night and the clear skies welcomed a bright dawn…..but also a very heavy dew. The dew cleared quickly but in one dell in our local woods it lingered a little longer clinging to leaves and grasses but also creating a spectacular display of Spiders Webs…..
As for the Spiders themselves many lay in wait in the centre of their web in the hope that dinner would be along soon…..
But Spiders Webs are fragile traps that as soon as a light breeze developed they started to fray and collapse……..
Not many minutes later the dell was looking cheerful in the mornings sunshine with barely a sign of the orgy of Spider activity that had taken place overnight……
The warm sun tempted the Squirrels to brave the day. Surprisingly they were adopting the mating tactics of chasing the female up the tree….the female allows several males to chase her up, down and arround the trees – she never seems to tire with the object being to establish which is the fittest of the males to keep up with her…the winner is the lucky guy to get the honours. I would say that this activity usually starts in January so October seems awfully early….
I am of course talking about the Grey Squirrel which is far from popular with Conservationist who classify it as none native specie. But I am sorry, as it appears to have established residency in many parts of the country (and has been here for well over a century) I rather accept its presence. I lament the loss of our Red Squirrel over most of the U.K. but fear that is now a lost cause.
The bright start to the day will I hope last, certainly over the lake it is creating an air full of the warm expectancy of autumn….
7th OCTOBER
DAVID OAKES - IMAGES. 