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Most wildlife is coping quite well with our mild, wet autumn, although as humans we’d probably all prefer to have had a bit more sunshine.Ìý

Getting out and about to enjoy nature is never so much fun when paths are muddy and overgrown, but for some farmers these damp days have had a serious affect on their ability to harvest crops on time.

Swallow

There were reports of swallows seen perching in bedraggled groups in the rain, rather than soaring around in the skies catching insects and building up their food reserves in advance of their southerly migration.

But the softer ground and abundant insect supply does make it much easier for many other birds to find food and water than in hot, dry years.

Of course a damp, mild autumn invariably makes it a good year for fungus-lovers. As always, care needs to be taken to pick and eat only those species which can be easily and reliably identified.

Fly Agaric

Some poisonous mushrooms, like the Fly Agaric, are easy to spot, whilst others like the appropriately named Death Cap can look disarmingly similar to the edible Field Mushroom. The consequences of a mistake here are dire indeed.

Fungi have been spreading in gardens, too, with some of my own plants struck down for the second year running by Tomato Blight.

A healthy plant and its ripening crop can be killed in just a few days by this microscopic mould which flourishes in the damp conditions we’ve been experiencing.

Blackberries

It’s been a good year for some autumn fruits, but not others. Blackberries and acorns have been in abundance and many berries have ripened early on Rowan trees and Hawthorn bushes.

These provide good food for winter visitors such as Fieldfare and Redwing and maybe even for small flocks of Waxwings which seem to have favourite spots in the county to visit whenever they move south during cold Scandinavian winters when food gets scarce.

Out in the fields there have once again been relatively few butterflies on the wing this year, with one local butterfly expert noting that 'it must be on course for the worst summer in living memory for our local Lepidoptera'.

Hummingbird Hawk Moth

To make up for the lack of sightings, he was however rewarded with a local first – a view of the rare Hummingbird Hawk Moth at Friargate Station in Derby– possibly one of the best recorded and rewarding sites for butterflies in the county.Ìý

As our damp autumn progresses, spiders are becoming more noticeable in hedgerows and gardens.

The large web-spinning Garden Cross Spider seems to hang from nearly every branch in my garden, and can be recognised by the large group of white dots or lines set in a crucifix pattern on its back.

But for all the ups and downs of our damp summer and autumn, perhaps the greatest concern for wildlife should be the overall trend of average temperatures increasing year on year.

Spider

With warmer winters, alien pest species are now more likely to survive and spread than if they had to battle through cold, frosty winters.

And even more worrying is the increasingly early arrival of spring each year, throwing out of balance the delicate links between predator and prey, of nesting birds and flourishing insects, of pollinator and pollen-bearing flowers.Ìý

ÌýIt may have been a damp squib of a summer; but it’s the long-term changes which local naturalists are most concerned to record and report.

Biological records centres such as those at Derby Museum and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust work alongside local experts to help record and monitor such changes in our local biodiversity.

Nick Moyes