A diverse array of fauna lives beneath the swaying canopy of our woodlands, from snuffling badgers to hopping squirrels. What can you spot this autumn?
Megan Shersby is a naturalist and writer.
ID GUIDE
1 EURASIAN TREECREEPER
Certhia familiaris
The treecreeper works its way up from the tree base, picking out small insects from the bark with its long, downcurved bill. Although common, it can be hard to spot due to its mottled brown feathers.
2 GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER
Dendrocopos major
Largely black and white with flashes of red, this blackbird-sized bird has a high-pitched ‘kik’ sound and undulating flight. In autumn, it eats nuts and berries, and will visit peanut feeders in gardens.
3 EUROPEAN BADGER
Meles meles
This nocturnal, rarely seen species may emerge from a sett as a family group before sunset in summer and early autumn. Badgers are protected, so do not disturb them. Look out for large five-toed footprints and communal latrines.
4 FOREST BUG
Pentatoma rufipes
This large brown shieldbug, measuring up to 15mm in length, is also known as the ‘red-legged shieldbug’. Associated with oak and broad-leaved woodlands, it often feeds on the sap of deciduous trees. Look for adults from July to late autumn.
5 OAK BUSH-CRICKET
Meconema thalassinum The only native bush-cricket to live in trees, this species has a yellow-green stripe along its back. Males don’t stridulate (rub two body parts together to ‘chirp’), but instead drum their hind legs on leaves.
6 ROE DEER
Capreolus capreolus
Once extinct here, the roe is now our most widely distributed deer species. Compared to other deer, males (bucks) have small antlers which they cast (or drop off) between November and December.
Both females and males will bark if startled.
7 ORANGE LADYBIRD
Halyzia sedecimguttata The orange ladybird feeds on the mildew of sycamore and ash leaves, and can be spotted over winter in leaf litter.
8 TAWNY OWL
Strix aluco
With its distinctive ‘tu-wit, tu who’ and ‘keewik’ calls, the UK�
