Plenty to see as summer segues into autumn

ALTHOUGH September is an autumn month according to the meteorological calendar, the astronomical calendar says that summer doesn't end until this coming Monday.

- By ERIN MCDAID

Whilst the month often provides opportunities to savour the last vestiges of summer, this year it has been very wet month so far - underlining that that the most certain aspect of the UK's weather is uncertainty.

Whatever the weather throws at us, September clearly marks the segue between seasons and is usually quite clearly signalled by Mother Nature providing us with plenty to enjoy whilst out and about.

Alongside the hedgerow harvest highlighted in last week's piece about 'mast' years, migratory birds are busily storing energy for arduous journeys south having bred locally.

Others, such as terns, curlews and dunlin that have spent the spring and summer in the north of the UK, and beyond our northern shores, can be seen stopping off to use our wetland sites for some 'R&R, much as we might use a motorway service station.

Here in the Trent Valley, we are somewhat spoilt for choice when it comes to wonderful wetland sites where we can watch the changing seasons unfold in front of our eyes.

In the south of the county, we have Attenborough, Skylarks and Netherfield Lagoons. Further downstream, there are gems such as Besthorpe and Langford Lowfields beyond Newark in the Trent Vale; and in the far north we have Idle Valley Nature Reserve and Beckingham Marshes.

Now is a really good time to visit wetland sites for a great chance to see birds on migration.