Folklore | Birds | Hedge Trees and Bushes | Butterflies | Flowers | Fungi | Insects | Mammals | Recipes

FOLKLORE

From early October until the 30 November there are four fewer hours of sunlight and October was therefore associated with darkness and the dead. Samhain (end of summer) is celebrated as we move into the 1st day of November, marking the end of the harvest festival. Oiche Shamhna or Halloween was a time when ghosts were around and fairies moved from summer camps to winter quarters. Families left the fire lit and went to bed early on All Souls Night so that the dead ancestors could gather there.

BIRDS

Blackbirds love Hawthorn haws, Crabapples, Blackberries and Dog Rose hips which are abundant at this time of year. Thrushes and the Mistle Thrush are feeding on hedge berries such as Yew. The Mistle Thrush also loves Holly berries.

Winter visitors from Scandinavia such as the Fieldfares and Redwing love haws, as well as insects and worms. You find Greenfinches on the higher branches as they feed on haw kernels which they can crack open. The Swallow has already departed and is on its way back to Africa. Back to top

HEDGE TREES AND BUSHES

This year has been a good ‘mast’ year for the Oak (Quercus spp.) with lots of acorns – this usually means lots of hazelnuts and berries in other native species too. The rose-pink fruited Spindle (Euonymus europaeus) may still have fruit well after the leaves are gone – you generally find this bush on lime-rich soil such as at Oldtown, Fingal. The fruits of the Elder (Sambucus nigra) are black and may be found in hedges. Snowberry and Lords-And-Ladies (also known as Cuckoopint, or Arum maculatum) berries are inedible. Hedge climbers such as Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) may still be in bloom. Back to top

BUTTERFLIES

The Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock are looking for places to hibernate. You may still find the Speckled Wood and the Meadow Brown flitting along the hedges. Back to top

FLOWERS

The Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris), Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica), Rosebay Willowherb (Chamaenerion angustifolium) and Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) are all still in flower. Back to top

FUNGI

The Shaggy Ink Cap can still be found. However, they are only edible when young, and you confuse them at your peril with the Common Ink Cap which causes vomiting. Back to top

INSECTS

The Ladybird and some insects prepare for hibernation. Other insect species start to die off, and most of the dragonflies and damselflies are gone already from the ditches. Underneath the hedge, the millipedes (Diplopoda), Woodlice (Isopoda) and earthworms are breaking down the leaves falling on the ground. Back to top

MAMMALS

Due to the encroaching darkness, some animals adjust by making preparations for hibernation. Fruit is plentiful and the moist ground helps them stock up, whether internally as fat or externally by hiding food.

The Badger seeks bedding for the cold nights. The Hedgehog prepares for hibernation. Some Bat species hibernate, often in abandoned buildings, underground ruins or caves where the temperature is stable.

Wood mice are most numerous in early autumn. They climb a lot and love rose hips and hawthorn berries. They gnaw a hole in the stone to get at the hawthorn and hazelnut kernel. Back to top

RECIPES

Blackberry and Elderberry Ice Cream

Ingredients: 350 g each of blackberries and elderberries, 275 ml or /½ pint double cream, 40 g icing sugar, 2 egg whites.

1.  Simmer the fruits together with a little water and a little sugar.
2.  Liquidise them when soft, then sieve them to separate the pips from the pulp.
3.  Whip the cream, fold in the sieved sugar and then the fruit puree.
4.  Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff, fold them in and freeze. Back to top

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