Autumn festivals

Autumn has seemed to carry on where Summer left off, with the occasional pleasant day crowded out by a welter of wetness. At least I have been able to keep dry this week, with trips to Caithness and Shetland avoiding the worst of the rain and gales.

Out and about in Orkney on All Souls Day, I found this newly-emerged moth as I was leaving a customer's property. It's an Angle Shades whose wings have not yet fully extended. I relocated it from a window frame to some sheltered vegetation. 

Bonfire Night and its fireworks hold no great charm for me, but I was delighted to see this huge clump of Ivy in flower whilst on a walk in Finstown, which was a mass of exploding rockets as it provided a useful source of nectar late in the year. Nearby were a couple of Blackcaps, a male and a female, diligently foraging through the leaves and stems for food.

However, before I could photograph the warblers, a muffled shout alerted me to an even greater wonder. Above us, in the branches of the tree we were stood under, were a pair of Waxwings, Winter visitors from Scandinavia. Likely, they were probably engaged in hungrily snarfing berries from the shrubs in some adjacent gardens. Always a treat to see.

Back at home, in the garden, apples have been deployed, just in case there are other Waxwings and Blackcaps around. The local Blackbirds and Starlings aren't letting this opportunity pass them by either.

What autumnal signs are there where you live?