Autumn has definately arrived with a large flock of siskins zooming around the lake area. It's a very lively bird that twitters loudly as it flies and loves feeding on alder trees. It can be seen all year round but is usually around in the winter when birds from Europe arrive.

A little grebe was dabbling in the reeds today but was easily spooked. It was joined by a male tufted duck:

 Four pheasants were also around the lake, three males and a female but again were very flighty.

The crows had been busy with the mussels again:

There was an oak apple gall underneath the large old oak tree:

This is an old one - an oak apple gall wasp causes this, where the female wasp lays her eggs in the leaf bud. You can just see some tiny holes which are where the larvae have eaten their way out.

There were quite a few fungi around today. The common inkcap:

And the shaggy inkcap:

I think this next one is jelly rot:

and lots of little ones on mossy logs which may well be common bonnet:

A very busy crow was throwing freshwater mussels onto stones when I visited last week. It was behaving as the gulls do by the sea, picking the mussel up, flying high and then dropping it onto a stony surface with the hope of it smashing. It gave up in the end and flew off to find something easier.

The robin in the small wood was as friendly as ever, and is getting very close. When the weather gets colder, I will bring some mealworms and see how near it will get.

Lichen is growing in abundance on a tree at the edge of the lake:

They don't harm the tree at all and there were quite a few patches on this mature tree.

The mute swan was by itself today looking lovely with it's reflection:

and was joined by just 2 swallows skimming for midges and water. There were a lot of reed buntings in the scrub by the Thames and a calling willow warbler, chiffchaff and a garden warbler. An Egyptian goose was playing king of the castle on a log:

Autumn is coming quickly with the hawthorn berries a gorgeous red colour:

and the hops turning as well:

I've been looking out for fungi on my visits but not much luck as yet. A huge bracket was on a tree between the carpark and the Thames:

This may well be a Southern bracket which is a perennial fungus and parasitic.