Leaving home

Fox cubs grow up fast. Born in spring, they are honing their hunting skills by summer and by early autumn will have reached full size. As competition and tensions rise, the family unit inevitably breaks up. Larger foxes disperse to find their own territories, while some vixens may remain to help raise next year’s li er.

Try This

Did you know?

Toadstools are the aboveground fruiting bodies of a fungus. Other toadstools include the fairy rings found in lawns and common inkcaps.

Spot on

Ladybirds are the gardener’s best friend, devouring vast numbers of aphids and other pests. The UK is home to more than 26 di erent species, including the harlequin ladybird, an Asian ladybird rst observed here 20 years ago.

7-spot

No awards for guessing how the 7-spot ladybird got its name! Like the equally common 2-spot, it can congregate in large numbers.

woodlands, especially those with pine, spruce or birch with which it forms a symbiotic relationship. The fly agaric’s mycelium a aches to the tree’s roots to transfer nutrients, while the tree returns the favour by passing sugars to the fungus.

SEE THEM THIS AUTUMN

 Dimminsdale Famous for its winter snowdrops, autumn sees the turn of fungi, including fly agaric.

 Great Merrible Wood Home to one of the greatest variety of fungi of any wood in Leicestershire.

Know your wood blewit from your scarlet elfcup? Brush up on your ID skills at lrwt.org.uk/wildlife-explorer/fungi

14-spot

This small ladybird has up to 14, sometimes merging, spots on its wing cases. One of three yellow ladybirds in the UK.

See This

The nal vestiges of summer o er the perfect excuse for a garden campout. Spot the bats as they emerge to feed, enjoy the glow of a camp re and wake up to birdsong.

Harlequin

It varies in appearance and can be black with red spots or vice versa. The number of spots varies too. Now a common sight.

Jays love to feast on acorns as they fatten up ahead of the colder months. Judicious jays will also bury excess acorns to dig up and eat later on in the winter.