Summer hangs on in to September until the equal hours of day and night, the spring equinox on September 22.

After that it becomes the changeover month marked by the autumn migration of birds to and from Britain in earnest. On September 24, I had the privilege to watch a migration of swallows away from Britain. For half an hour between 6pm and 6.30pm, over 400 flew over Sidford at a height of not much more than a detached house, travelling in a straight line from the North East towards the South West. They came continuously in small groups of 5 or 6 with a short pause between each group, using Sidbury Castle and Core Hill as markers and in a continuous stream of pleasant twittering excitement. I hope they made it through the storms and across the Channel.

On the 21st while waiting at the bus stop near Waitrose, a chiffchaff was singing its two note summer song, in the trees opposite. Some chiffchaffs do not migrate and stay in the South West all winter but will not sing again until joined in spring by next year`s return migrants.

The background hum of insects has long gone but a lot of butterflies were flying in September. The long herbaceous border at the Ham had plenty of red admiral and small and large white butterflies. Also, a humming bird hawk moth was seen feeding on the buddlejas. This border was designed by Sidmouth in Bloom, congratulations to them for providing such a variety of insect pollinator friendly plants. The white butterflies will die by the end of October survived by their offspring which hibernate overwinter in the pupal stage. Red admiral and painted lady butterflies become dormant as temperatures drop but do not go in to a proper hibernation. A severe winter will kill them but if mild then they will reappear on warm days any time right through until spring. Their relatives, the small tortoiseshell, peacock and comma do go in to a full hibernation which is as early as the end of August.

Wasps make their presence known in September, when their colonies reach peak size, although year on year, there seem to be fewer around. There are six species of social wasps in Britain plus the native European hornet. Three species nest in holes in the ground or trees and three nest in the open in dense bushes or on the outside of buildings. All have large nests up to the size of a football, with several thousand workers. Those that nest in bushes are usually finished by mid September but those in cavities can be active well in to November. The hornet is also a cavity nester and there was a nest in the thatch of a previous house of mine that was active until November 5th. There is a colony of hornets in the end nest box of the Swift tower at Seaton Wetlands. I noticed that they had reduced the entrance to make it more suitable for them. The paper surrounding a hornet's nest is always buff brown whereas the social wasps are usually grey.

Is it possible to look forward to the autumn with its rotting down vegetation, its wetness and dullness, with no flowers or insects, with its dying herbaceous vegetation, and the bare trees and bushes with cold winds blasting through them? Think of the colourful fungi that take us by surprise as they pop up out of nowhere, the detail of ferns that become noticeable when the leaves have gone, and lots of arriving migrant birds, sometimes including a rarity. Think of autumn as just a quieter gap before the slow creep to spring.