Do you love taking photographs? Then we think autumn is a great time to get your camera out and begin snapping away at all the natural sights of the season. What will you see on your woodland walks? Busy squirrels, a cunning fox, a conker fight, falling leaves, a stunning sunrise or some curiously shaped fungi?
If you need some inspiration on what you can do in the autumn months, then below, we’ve harvested the best ways in which you can spend your September, October and November. At RSPB reserves all around the country, there are some great activities you can enjoy with your family; the season is also a time to revel in the colour and light. The British outdoors is one of the very best places to be to witness the natural transformation of the land before winter arrives.
We think the autumn is a superb time of year for a staycation so why not stay at one of our holiday cottages? We have a superb range of properties for everybody from singles to large groups of friends and family. Come along and join the autumn holiday fun; where will you stay?
Autumn cottages
Autumn holiday activities
We love the autumn with its gorgeous falling leaves, the nights drawing in and the opportunity to see flocks of visiting birds on the wing. It’s a superb season to birdwatch and spend time outdoors engaging in natural play in awesome habitats like woodlands and the British countryside. For our Autumn Holiday Watch in partnership with the RSPB, we have come up with lots of interesting ways to make September, October and November fun and full of family adventure.
Go birdwatching
If you live or are holidaying near an RSPB nature reserve, then viewing conditions are perfect for observing sedentary and wintering birds. During late autumn, birds like starlings flock together to keep safe after spending the summer in smaller family groups, so look for billowing clouds of them in the sky on your travels. Look out for blackbirds, robins, bluetits, sparrows and blackcaps; the most prolific birds that stay on in England during the colder months – they may even visit your garden.
The joy of birdwatching has become a life-long hobby for many of us – see if you can pass on the quiet thrill of seeing a lesser-spotted or rare bird in the wild to your children. It’s a calm pastime like fishing that requires patience, poise and a good memory for visual and audible recognition. You will find a notice board at any RSPB visitor centre with a record of recent sightings and whereabouts on the reserve to catch possible sightings.
Build a hedgehog house
The beloved hedgehog goes into hibernation during the colder months so their mission during the autumn is to find somewhere to curl up and sleep out of harm’s way. Hedgehogs favour bases made from moss, grass, and earth. They can be found in thick brambles or the bottom of sheds, sometimes inside said sheds or in garden junk. If you plan to build a hedgehog house, find a wooden box and cut a small doorway into it; alternatively, buy one from the RSPB shop. Find a good spot for the den away from the prevailing winds and in thick vegetation. Avoid checking on the house regularly as it’s best to leave hibernating animals alone.
Be a nature detective
Find tracks and signs left behind by the wildlife. Unlike humans, most wild animals are shy and can be difficult to spot. Many are nocturnal or actively avoid us altogether, however, they do leave clues of their movements behind them like footprints, feathers and droppings. Look out for confusing and interesting tracks – can you tell the difference between a rabbit's and a hare’s prints? You could even have your own Bioblitz at home or at your holiday home or join the RSPB's Wild Challenge.
Build a den and a dead hedge
As trees shed their branches from time to time, they leave ample material to build a den about them. Prop up the largest branches against the trunk of a nearby tree and then develop the structure with small branches – then you can work on a canopy to make it into a proper shelter. It’s an active and involving task for all members of the family, big and small and even four-legged! At home, you could practice by making a dead hedge for your wildlife. They are great fun to make and help restore nutrients back into your garden. Dead Hedges are quite easy to make if you have gathered lots of materials on a walk to the woods.
Make a journey stick and shake a tree
One of our favourite nature crafts for children is helping them collect mementoes of a day down in the woods for a journey stick. Find a stick or a branch and tie or stick woodland treasure like leaves, twigs, feathers, tree bark and anything else natural that you find. Then, when you get home, hang it somewhere for all to see to remind you of the fun, crafty day you all had in the woods. Ever shaken a tree? Early autumn is best to collect an array of mini-beasts to do a bit of amateur entomology.
Forage for fruits and nuts
Make a fun holiday game of foraging for food. Many wild animals and birds store up during this season before the winter closes in. From September to November, you will find the edible likes of hawthorn berries (used in homemade ketchup), beech nuts (for sprinkling on salads after roasting), rosehips (for homemade syrup), sloes (for gin, whisky, jams and vinegar), and wild strawberries and raspberries (jams, juice, frozen treats). Don’t forget the abundant sweet chestnuts and hazelnuts that come of age and fall to the ground for roasting! Make sure you know what you are picking; if you are unsure, leave it alone as some berries can make you very poorly.
Create a leaf collage
Autumn ushers in a dazzling dance of natural colour unrivalled in its range of tones than in any other season. The spectrum of yellow, gold, brown, red and orange can be collected by the bundle to make some spectacular collages! That’s the beauty of a woodland; there are enough fallen leaves to make a year’s worth of art – maybe you can even catch some falling from the trees. No caution is needed when gathering leaves, it's not like picking flowers that still have some growing to do – collecting leaves for art gives the tree another lease of life!
Wild play
Those of us who live in the countryside may take our access to open spaces for granted but not everybody has an opportunity to reach the great outdoors on a regular basis. Green spaces, although they do exist in cities and large towns, usually consist of a large lawn space and a play area for small children and not much in the way of open woodlands. Woodland play and forest schools are relatively uncommon but their popularity is on the rise. So how about indulging in some wild play on the weekends or on your holiday with a trip to a country park?
Hunt for fungi
Fungi spotting can be very interesting if you know what you are looking for – hidden beneath the surface for much of the year, toadstools and wild mushrooms sprout up in a myriad of peculiar shapes. There are over 100,000 species of fungi, which is a mind-boggling number! Don’t attempt to touch or eat any fungi that you spot though.
Need inspiration for your autumn holiday?
Read one of our blogs to find out about the best places in the UK for walks and our favourite coastal destinations in the autumn.
Stay at a self-catering holiday cottage this autumn
Choose a staycation at one of our holiday cottages this autumn. We have self-catering accommodation all across England, Scotland and Wales, a whole host of which are within driving distance of an RSPB reserve. Birds are everywhere, so take your binoculars along with you on your holiday property break and see which feathered visitors you get in your garden. Click on the button below to find your perfect autumn hideaway.
Autumn cottages