Walking the grassy drive, orchard to my left and a medley of sedges and shingle to my right, I was itching to have a look around. I didn’t realise how much I’d love this place, until the giant metal Dung Beetle sculpture reared out of the undergrowth. 

Autumn:

The nights get colder and morning dew descends on the cob webs making them more present. The odd neon hawkbit and wild carrot still waver in the matted grass.

Meteorological changes are stirring. Clouds hang heavy overhead as I rake, the dead grass crackling and popping to the soundtrack of blackbirds bubbling, and tinkling keychains of goldfinches. The billowing hedgerows crisscrossing the school provide a buffet of hawthorn, rosehip and sloe for them at this time of year.

Wicor’s grounds host over half of all the native tree species in the UK. And as I rake amongst the candelabra of apples, pears, and plums, the orchard is surveyed by craning birches, and the inky silhouettes of Scots pine, popular at this time of year with goldcrests, the UK’s joint smallest bird.

Birdlife is at its peak in autumn. Hedgerows hang heavy with greenfinches, goldfinches, and house sparrows, the latter creating “super-flocks” of parents and juveniles in autumn.

Hirundine (Swallow, Sand and House Martins) wheel overhead in a hesitant flight: house martins and swallows hunt for craneflies and midges as they prepare for a mass-exodus back to Africa. The swifts have already gone.

Rarities like spotted flycatcher are occasionally spied also, passing on migration. A species typified by mature, invertebrate-rich woodlands, pseudo flocks band together here, Wicor teetering on the coastline that frames their departure.

Ground-level migrations are also in play. Toads, frogs and smooth newts all seek refuge, exiting the dappled pond to seek the promise of rotting logpiles, or disused vole burrows.

For others, the year is culminating. After an annual battle against the cabbage white caterpillars (this being a generic term for large, small, and green-veined whites) only a few papery individuals still hang on the wing, and the allotments can be harvested.

Bands of gardeners, volunteers and students haul everything from swollen pumpkins, to crops of rosy apples from the grounds, to be sold in a purpose-built cabin at the school’s gate. All beneath the watchful eye of this year’s fox litter. Any unattended gloves will be used as stalking practice by the young fox cubs.

Harry Munt (Wicor Garden Volunteer and Wildlife Conservationist) 

Harry volunteers at Wicor Primary School helping manage the grounds for wildlife. Harry started his own House Sparrow project in building nest boxes. Harry is a ranger for Hampshire Count Council and has a passion for nature conservation. He is also a Wilder Communications Champion. 

Find out more about our Wilder Communications Champion