September

By Peter Conway

September is a surprisingly nice month, perhaps the most consistently sunny month of the year. At the end of August you have resigned yourself to summer being over, but then along comes a succession of golden days with delightfully pleasant temperatures. Cultural and business life return, and you are suddenly filled with a new energy. It seems that autumn is not so bad after all.

WEATHER

At the start of September there is always a period when a definite coolness creeps into the air in the early mornings, and you know summer is over. Dew once more covers grass and the benches at the station.

But September is also the most reliably sunny month in the south east, and often makes up for the deficiencies of the weather early in the summer. High pressure keeps low pressure zones to the north and west, and there is succession of days of lovely golden sunshine and intense blue skies. If there is a period of unsettled weather, it does not last for long.

Daytime temperatures can still pack a punch early in the month – such as in 2004, 2005 and 2006 when the thermometer regularly rose into the high 20s centigrade in the first two weeks of the month. By mid September sunny days are pleasant rather than hot, however – the low twenties centigrade at best, or even the high teens - and temperatures fall away noticeably in the evening, maybe even into single figures, making a jacket or pullover essential. (An exception to this was 2006 when it remained shirtsleeve warm at night almost to the end of the month.)

Often (as in 2001, 2002 and 2003) the fine weather lasts right to the end of the month. Sometimes, however, the Atlantic fronts win out a bit earlier. In 2004 this happened as early as 13 September, while in 2005 more unsettled weather came in around the 23rd, and in 2006 on the 28th. Once this happens, it is suddenly definitely autumn: wet, windy and changeable.

September 2008 and 2009 were the reverse of this pattern. 2008 had a cloudy and very showery start – the continuation of the dismal August of that year. But high pressure finally established itself from the south west on the 13th, and from then on it was typically stable September weather – sometimes cloudy due to the position of the high, but with plenty of fine sunny days too, including three successive weekends of wall to wall sunshine when the temperature nudged up to 20 degrees.

In 2009, there was a period of intense wind and rain in the first four days of September, and then a high set in, with temperatures reaching 29 degrees on the 8th. From 10 to 15 September there was then a period of generally fine weather but with strong north east winds, due to a high being centred to the west of the UK. But then the weather settled to the more normal pattern, with a stable high to the south, and largely sunny days with pleasant temperatures for the rest of the month.

In 2007, high pressure also sat to the west for the first ten days of the month, bringing quite a bit of cloud into the south east: however, temperatures during this period remained at the 20 degree level they had been at since May. The 13th to the 16th were then a bit hotter and sunnier, before more unsettled weather came in on the 17th. This brought sharply lower temperatures- into the mid teens by day – with skies more cloudy than not. But there were only two days with significant rain (the 24th seeing the first proper rain in a month).

The evenings in September draw in at an accelerating pace: by mid month, you are shocked to notice that it is dark by 7.30pm, and by the end of the month, lighting up time is 6.50pm, though it feels like it is starting to get dark at 6.30pm. That means starts to have to keep an eye on the clock on days out in the country, though this is not yet a serious problem. And on Sunday afternoons, if you don’t leave the house till mid afternoon, the daylight is almost gone before you get into town.

By now, you are starting to get the golden light even in the middle of the day. It starts to do that winter thing of seeming to shine in your face the whole time. In the city, the sun is low enough that most streets are in shadow by mid afternoon, while others have the sun shining straight down them.

T-shirts go back into the cupboard, along with sun hats, whose protection from the sun is no longer needed. Jackets come out. Mid month the bedclothes come rapidly back onto the bed - not just duvet, but blankets too. It starts to feel nippy in the morning when you wake up: you cosy up under the bedclothes before getting up.

At the end of the month you start to think about putting the heating on, but you don’t yet. In the evening, perhaps, while watching television you put the gas fire on, but it is not strictly necessary. Sometimes you wear a pullover inside, but often on going out you are surprised how mild it is.

Unless it is really dry, pot plants no longer need watering. The ground starts can be a bit damp if it rains, but soon dries out again, and there is still very little mud on paths.

Colds and other ailments return. Suddenly everyone you know seems to have something and you feel you must be next.

NATURE NOTES

• Leaves fall quietly, but there is little tinting
• Some summer flowers linger, and spring ones have another go
• Robins add some welcome new birdsong.

For pictures of some of the items mentioned here, see the photos to the right of this page. Put your cursor over any photo to see its caption. In addition Wikipedia has photos and more information about many plants.

Contrary to expectation, the leaves do not usually begin to turn colour en masse during September. By the end of the month, most trees are still green, and only a few isolated trees are showing any autumn tints at all.

Quietly, however, leaf fall has already started. All sorts of trees and bushes are quietly thinning out their leaves, including willow, rowan, birch, hawthorn, blackthorn, hornbeam, limes, field maple and other maples including sycamores, poplars, ash, hazel and sweet chestnut. Notice also that bramble bushes are losing their leaves even while they still sport blackberries.

You may also notice some patches of tint on all these plants, but these remain isolated – the tinted leaves fall, but the remaining ones remain green. Exceptions to all this were in 2007, 2008 and 2009 when there were more noticeable patches of tint throughout the month. In 2007 and 2008 a cool summer seemed to be the trigger, while in 2009 a very dry August and September may well have been a factor. Whatever, in all three years, by the month’s end some limes, sweet chestnut, hornbeam, ash, hazel and maples were becoming quite widely coloured, and some willows, hawthorn and blackthorn were starting to look somewhat bare.

2009 also saw most horse chestnuts making a fine display of golden leaves in September, but this tree is a special case. Its leaves have been affected in recent years by a leaf mining bug, and in 2007 and 2008 many were shrivelled completely by this time of year. The fact that in 2009 many leaves survived to turn golden, albeit earlier than normal, is hopefully a sign that the trees are fighting back against the bug.

Another source of autumn colour in September is Virginia creeper, a climber found on garden walls and waste ground which turns a glorious red colour in late September. In 2009 about half the bracken also turned colour, but half did not – again, possibly drought.

Fruits and nuts provide a meal

By mid September, the fruit and nuts on trees and bushes are more likely to be on the ground than on their branches: the ground crunches underfoot with horse chestnuts, sweet chestnuts, acorns (on both normal oaks and evergreen ones), and beech nuts. Berries also fall to the ground, but bushes still can look aflame with them. Both squirrels and birds rush to take advantage of this bounty.

The range of berries to be found in September is quite extraordinary. There are haws on hawthorns and hips on rose bushes. Blackberries can still linger well into the month, though those that remain tend to be moreish. You can also see juicy black-blue sloes on blackthorn bushes, black berries on dogwood, buckthorn and cherry laurel, and – early in the month – the hanging clusters of elderberries (lower photo).

Trees and shrubs with red berries include whitebeam, rowan, guelder rose, yew and holly. Honeysuckle and black bryony – both climbers – also leave long strings of their red berries in hedgerows, and in gardens and semi-wild places you can see firethorn bushes aflame with great sprays of orange berries.

Notice also that snowberries – white, as their name suggests – continue to form (they last well into winter), and there are plums (top photo), damsons, greengages, apples (including little inedible crab apples) and pears groaning on their respective trees or bushes. Burs and other tiny furry seeds stick to your socks.

On trees, seeds turn brown, and from a distance can look like tinted leaves. You can see this with ash and hornbeam, both of which sport big clumps of seeds. Some winged sycamore and maple seeds fall, while others stay on the trees: lime seeds have mostly fallen in August, though some may remain.

While searching woodland floors for nuts, you will also see some mushrooms and other fungi in September. The dry weather in September often means that October is a better month to spot them, however.

A few wild flowers linger on

Those August wild flowers that have survived in favoured spots generally disappear by the middle of the month, but early on in September you can see a wide range of flowers.

These can include include grassland flowers such as harebells, knapweed, field scabious, majoram, basil, mignonette, clustered and nettle-leaved bellflowers, burnet saxifrage, hedge parsley, eyebright, sheep’s bit, restharrow, common centuary, and agrimony. One of the longest lasting flowers here is yarrow, which can last till the end of September, as does the daisy-like mayweed on the edge of arable fields.

The invasive but pretty himalayan balsam also lasts on riversides till late in the month, as does water mint and other types of mint. On verges you can see common toadflax throughbout September. Other plants such as Canadian goldenrod, ragwort and St John’s Wort tend only to be seen early in August, as does the aptly-named everlasting sweet pea. The big white trumpets of bindweed remain common hedgerows till late in the month. The odd budleia flower also survives till around the third week.

A whole confusing category of yellow weeds also remains on grass verges and wasteground throughout September. There are the dandelion-like hawkbits and hawksbeards (eg smooth hawksbeard, autumn hawkbit, lesser hawkbit, catsear – see July) as well as bristly oxtongue (in particular by the sea), nipplewort and various brassicas – eg black mustard, hedge mustard, and charlock.

September also has a few flowers of its own. The most striking are the purple michelmas daisies (actually a type of aster) which grow along railway lines and are at their best at the month’s end (Michelmas is 29 September). You can also see autumn crocuses. Not just a September flower, but the invasive but very pretty climber, Japanese knotweed, is at its best right throughout September – a mass of white flowers. Another rampant wayside climber – traveller's joy – takes on its winter name of old man’s beard due to its fluffy seed heads.

Ivy also bursts into flower in the second half of September, though its blooms look rather unconventional. Their sickly sweet smell is likely to alert you to them more than anything else, and if you look closely at them you might see the last surviving bees and other insects feeding on their nectar.

One last category of flowers in September are spring flowers that have another go. Genuine dandelions (as opposed to the similiar-looking hawkbits and hawksbeards: see above) can be seen, as can white deadnettle, speedwell, scarlet pimpernell, buttercups, sorrells, clovers, tormentil, cinquefoil, poppies, lesser stitchwort, red campion and – by the sea – red valerian. Gorse also can start to put out new flowers. All of these seem to be under the illusion that it is March, April or May.

By the end of the month, only a very few flowers remain, however – perhaps some yarrow and the odd hawksbeard. Nettles die back, making overgrown paths accessible again, the flower book goes back on the shelf: the flowering season that started way back in January with the snowdrop has finally come to an end.

Bees and butterflies fade

Where there are flowers for them to feed on, a few butterflies and bees can still be seen in September (eg around ivy when it comes into flower), as can wasps and other insects – even dragonflies. But sightings are very rare by the end of the month. Snails and other garden fauna also disappear from general view, though they are not quite gone, and can survive in hidden spots right into October in warmer years. Later in the month, spiders wait forlornly in their webs for prey that will never come

Robins serenade departing migrants

Birdsong slowly picks up in September after the summer silence, with robins particularly prominent. After the breeding season, both males and females are establishing and aggressively defending their territories once more and at times set up a regular cacophony of twittering.

Another category of birds that suddenly become quite noisy are tits. Blue tits become communal once more and chirp and chirr away as they feed on trees and bushes. Other tits such as great tits and coal tits can also be heard calling and occasionally even uttering a burst of their see-saw mating songs.

The more-experienced birdwatcher can also have fun identifying the many single contact calls you can hear at this time of year – ie single hweets or tseeps. Apart from the tits just mentioned, willow warblers, chiffchaffs, chaffinches (who also become communal again after breeding), greenfinches, dunnocks and even robins can all be the source of these, but foliage makes it hard to make firm identifications.

You might also hear the ponderous song of the chiffchaff – it was widely reported on the BBC Autumnwatch programme in late September 2009, even though by rights it should only be heard in spring. Along with willow warblers this migrant does not leave for Africa until October, and some chiffchaffs (though not willow warblers) even overwinter. Other migrants leave in September, however, often gathering in flocks on the south coast to feed up before their flights. Notable in this category are house martins who can be seen swooping overhead for insects, clicking happily as they do so, until late in September, but one day before the month ends are suddenly gone.

Other birds to be heard this month include the perennial cheeps of sparrows in the vicinity of buildings, and the occasional cawing and calling of crows, magpies and rooks. Passing a blackberry bush you may disturb a flock of noisy starlings. Birds such as nuthatches and green woodpeckers may give a sudden burst of song, but are not generally vocal at this time of year.]

The deer rut

Late September sees the start of the deer rut, though it climaxes in mid October. A wonderful place to observe this is Richmond Park, where dominant red deer males gather harems of females (or rather the females gather round the male – it is they who choose where to be) and mate with them, while defending them against challengers. They mark their territory in many ways, the most noticeable of which is their load roar. Younger males who fancy their chances tend to linger just out of range of the dominant males, looking for a chance to challenge. Females can, and sometimes do, change their mind about the male they have chosen and just wander off.

Red deer are not a wild species in southern England, but fallow and roe deer also have ruts. If you are lucky enough to spot signs of them in the woods, keep your distance, however. The deer in Richmond Park also need to be treated with respect, but are obviously more used to being watched by humans.

© Peter Conway 2006 - updated 2007, 2008, 2009 • All Rights Reserved • From his South East of England Almanac