I mark autumn not by the calendar, but by the first day I layer up for my morning walk: a cardigan, a scarf, wool socks, and a pair of boots. The light and air begin to change, and on the first cold days I notice my breath clouding ahead of me.
Autumn may be the richest season for noticing: like spring, suddenly everything changes. The sky fills with birds again, this time flying south. Starlings rove in graceful packs, dancing over water as they make their way down south.
But it is the leaves I notice most. It’s hard not to: first they change in colour—greens fade to yellows and oranges, occasionally reds—and then they morph, drying and falling to the pavement, where they crunch beneath my feet. Leaf litter sparks so many senses: the smell of drying leaves accompanies the flash of colour, and I delight in shuffling my feet through their masses.
You might notice different colours on the trees where you live. Which colours are most prominent? Which leaves fall to the ground first?
Once they’ve fallen, can you begin to sort the leaves by shape? Do they have smooth or toothed (serrated) edges? Trees like limes (lindens) have heart-shaped leaves, which makes them very easy to spot—indeed, this is the first tree I learned. Some leaves, like chestnuts or rowans, might have many toothed leaflets arranged around a central point or stem, while others may be more oval in shape, like beeches and birches. Still others might have many pointed lobes on a single leaf, like the hand-shaped leaves of plane trees or maples.
I often take a long forest walk in autumn—or even just linger amidst a patch of trees in my local park—to search for mushrooms. In autumn, the fruiting bodies of fungi poke above ground, and it is this part that we know as the mushroom. It can be a challenge to exactly identify each species, but more often than not I find it relaxing simply to notice them: below the backs of fallen logs, in patches of moss, and amidst piles of leaves.
You might spot mushrooms like penny buns (porcinis) with a brown top, a thick stem, and a creamy white underside. They grow well near oaks, beeches, pines, and birches. You may also spot bracket fungi growing on tree trunks: like the bright yellow chicken-of-the-woods, often found in early autumn.
Because foraging mushrooms can be tricky to get right, do thorough research and identification if you plan to take any home. You might even find a fungi foraging course in your local area.
As I leave the trees and head towards water, I keep an eye out for the most subtle transition of the season. After the heat of summer fills lakes and streams with green algae, the cold of autumn will cause the algae to settle. As the water temperature cools, you might notice the water becoming very clear!
Take a peek at your local body of freshwater—whether a lake, stream, creek, or even a ditch! You might notice that it shifts from cloudy to crystal clear as the weather cools.
Some simple ways to notice autumn:
Try to keep an eye out for migrating birds in autumn. Some, like geese or ducks, may fly in a V-shape. Do you notice that some birds fly south while others stay for winter?
Searching for fungi—much like looking for moss—is a great way to begin noticing nature on a smaller scale. Pick a small patch of woodland, maybe 5 square yards, and try looking very closely at the ground or tree trunks for signs of fungi. You might get dizzy, so don’t forget to take breaks.
You might notice hedgerows filled with fruit in autumn. Blackberries (brambles) tend to ripen in late-summer and early autumn, and dusty blue sloes ripen in mid-autumn. Blackberries grow on thorny shrubs, while sloes grow on blackthorn trees and hedges with dark bark and oval, pointed leaves.