Starting October

... Garden matters, and some wild things to see during the month

Oct 01, 2023

Garden Morning

A short gardening digression before we reach the main purpose of today’s newsletter - an idea that recently caught my eye. Under the trees in a back corner, we have a “stumpery” (also known as a pile of logs) which hosts fungi and small creatures but having seen the link below I think that next spring it might mature into a dead hedge for wildlife. Quote: “Dead hedges provide hiding places and nesting habitats for all sorts of creatures, as well as food for insects. As it rots down, the nutrients are recycled back into the earth below, meaning your garden ‘waste’ needn’t go into garden bins or bonfires. Creating a dead hedge is an ongoing activity, which can be added to every time you prune a tree or cut back a shrub.”

Find out about it here:
https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/nature-on-your-doorstep/garden-activities/build-a-dead-hedge-for-wildlife/

Not everything in the garden is a native flowering plant, we are not absolutists, but all bring something to the pleasure of this early Sunday morning … this is my view from the window as I write this post, mug of tea, camera and binoculars to hand. The tall red flower is a Canna Lily and very much non-native … on the other hand it is highly appealing to our tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that should have started their southbound migration at least two weeks ago but which are still entertaining us. Strange weather this year.

Look out for these during October

Suggestions for some seasonal wild plants and creatures you might encounter when out for a ramble, or just pottering in the October garden. Don’t despair, it isn’t snowing yet, nothing even approaching a night frost has looked over the horizon (it will) and there is still a lot happening in the natural world that is worth going out to enjoy. See if you can find some of the these:

Birds

Birds are always around us, even in the worst and coldest months of the year. There are many residents who stick around buy also seasonal migrants who are either passing through or find where we live a good place to be, especially those coming south from the boreal forests. Good old Northern Cardinals, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Crows and the like will not be going anywhere and are easy to see. MOST unusually, it’s the first of October and we still have Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in the garden, more than two weeks after they should have headed south - it’s abnormally warm during the daytime, forecast to reach the high twenties later this week, and we have forgotten what rain looks like.

Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) - These are forest and woodland birds, which find that leafy suburban gardens and parks are nearly as good. They become particularly easy to see in gardens as the fall progresses and leaves drop off the trees - after all, those garden bird feeders provide birds which raptors enjoy. Be careful not to confuse them with the somewhat similar Sharp-shinned Hawks.

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) - These small, grey sparrows raise their young north of the cities in forests across much of North America. In the winter months they migrate south to become common seasonal residents in urban environments enjoying a wider variety of habitats including open woodlands, fields, roadsides, parks, and gardens. Put out food and they will visit you - as will a good range of other winter migrants of similar size such as Common Redpoll, Purple Finch and similar species travelling to find food.

Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) - Unless you live south of me these will be seen in migration along with other waterfowl as they stop to feed on large lakes and rivers en route to their main wintering areas along the coasts. As long as there is open water that they can rest and feed on you might be able to observe them.

A slight digression, while we are focused on birds … this quote is from an article by the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology:

Watch Birds, Share What You See

The challenge: The world’s most abundant bird, the Passenger Pigeon, went extinct, and people didn’t realize how quickly it was vanishing until it was too late. Monitoring birds is essential to help protect them, but tracking the health of the world’s 10,000 bird species is an immense challenge.
The cause: To understand how birds are faring, scientists need hundreds of thousands of people to report what they’re seeing in backyards, neighborhoods, and wild places around the world. Without this information, scientists will not have enough timely data to show where and when birds are declining around the world.
Enjoy birds while helping science and conservation: Join a project such as eBird, Project FeederWatch, Christmas Bird Count, Breeding Bird Survey, or the International Shorebird Survey to record your bird observations. Your contributions will provide valuable information to show where birds are thriving—and where they need our help.

Insects

Insects are certainly going to be in short supply once temperatures plummet, but in October there is still some warmth in the sun and it’s surprising what you can find out and about. There will certainly by bumble bees as long as you have flowers for them to take pollen from. Keep an eye out for these species as well:

Pine Tree Cricket (Oecanthus pini) - Live on pines, but also other conifers including Cedar, Juniper, Blue Spruce, Black Spruce, etc. Can be difficult to spot because they are usually high up in the tree crown but October is the end of their season and I have found them down at ground level now and again.

Bronze Ground Beetle (Carabus nemoralis) - there are several species of ground beetles of which this example is to be found in southern Quebec. Found on the ground and in soil under logs, rocks, wood, leaves, boards, and other debris. Nocturnal. Can enter buildings from time to time. Beneficial predators which feed on common invertebrate pests such as ants, aphids, caterpillars, maggots, slugs, and worms.

Dark Paper Wasp (Polistes fuscatus) - specimens in October are from summer-laid eggs and will be either males at the end of their lives or fertile females finding places to hibernate during fall and winter. As cold weather arrives, old queens, workers, and males die and the young, mated females go into hibernation.

Plants

Plant life is starting to die back, change colour and settle down for the winter. I am not going to spend a great deal of time talking about trees which are the splendour of October and which you can get out and enjoy without any guidance from me. Meanwhile, there are lots of other plants to get to know still.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) - at this time of the year it is easy to spot as the vegetative parts of the plant have died down to reveal the red “berries” shown in the photograph. To be found in moist, shady woodlands which are rich in organic material and have never been plowed - if you live in the Montreal area look around the sugar shack in the Morgan Arboretum.

Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) - a native tree that is easy to find because it is so often also planted in gardens as a feature. In October the leaves are a glowing yellow which is hard to miss.

Dwarf Mallow (Malva neglecta) - a low, sprawling plant that you quite possibly have growing in a corner of your garden unless you are a fanatical weeder. Common, but originally from Europe and only a naturalized invasive in North America.

Fungi

Remarkably there are fungi to be seen every month of the year, but the fall is usually thought of as the “mushroom season”. Perhaps find an area of woodland and check out fallen logs and the surrounding soil.

American Yellow Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) - the classic toadstool. Found in woodland areas and either solitary, scattered, in groups, or in fairy rings. Don’t eat it - contains hallucinogenic compounds and is poisonous in large, possibly even in moderate amounts, but not normally fatal.

Northern Tooth (Climacodon septentrionalis) - hard to miss because of its bright, creamy white coloring and large size making it visible from quite a distance on the trunks of trees. It causes a spongy, white trunk rot in deciduous hardwoods and gradually kills the host tree.

Fluted Bird's Nest Fungus (Cyathus striatus) - Widespread. Resembles a miniature bird's nest with numerous tiny "eggs" which are actually bodies that contain spores. Grows in clusters on small twigs or other woody debris. It is also common on mulch under shrubs.

A friend living round the corner has a florestry business - this is one of her seasonal creations now gracing our lounge. I confess to not being a great fan or flower arranging, far too much of what I see is too much Womens’ Institute-ish in style for my taste, but Sandra’s work is very different.

On Choosing Things to Write About

I suspect that I am writing for a small, and just a little niche, community of readers - to whom I offer my thanks for being here. Here’s a quote from Mike Sowdon, another Yorkshireman present on Substack, about how to choose what to write about ... He says, and I rather agree:

My Nerdy Thing
So you really care about ferns, or earthenware teapots, or the poems of Sappho, widely agreed to be one of the greatest poets of Classical Greece, and you absolutely burn to explain to everyone else why they should care like you do. Well, you’re allowed to do that. Even with climate change, the war in Ukraine, governmental corruption, amazing displays of idiocy from people in positions of great power, all these other things in the news - you are allowed to write about your specific nerdy thing. Two reasons for this. First: because your nerdy thing has value, and that value can’t be erased by cheap, lazy comparisons to other things. You know this deep down - it’s why you care so much.

If you would like to read what else he says I have put a link below.

And … what makes the things I write about into “My Nerdy Thing” is, for example, my sitting here tapping away at the keyboard, lightly sweating over the words, when this fellow - a Blue-headed Vireo - appeared right outside the window (hint: never be more than six feet from a camera and a pair of binoculars)