September, October and November
During autumn the days are rapidly getting shorter and the sun is becoming lower in the sky. The autumn equinox, when day and night are of equal length, is on 23 September. There are often spectacular sunsets in autumn, the stars can seem brighter at night, and on some mornings mist hangs over fields and parks. This is a time of nature's plenty, with a wonderful hedgerow harvest of blackberries, rose hips, crab apples, hazelnuts and seeds. Many of our much loved creatures take advantage of this wild harvest to build up reserves of fat for migration or for hibernation.
Top five things to look for
Things to do in autumn
Crisp autumn days are full of colour as the leaves turn red and gold. Toadstools pop up from the floor like fairy-tale towers and animals fatten up eating brightly-coloured berries.