As autumn arrives we always realise how much we love this time of year. The sadness of saying goodbye to summer is instantly alleviated by the rich colours of the woodland and welcome smells of woodsmoke and moss.
It’s also the sporting season for those who enjoy country pursuits, and the best time of year to bottle hedgerow wines and liqueurs.
Ready for battle: just before dawn, a fallow deer prepares to ward off other suitors. Britain’s red and sika deer also rut in the autumn
Double the delight: Autumn’s fire reflected in Grasmere in the Lake District
Listen out for the tawny owl’s calls, which are most frequent in the autumn as they establish their territories
Sycamore seeds wheel through the air
A hazel dormouse builds up its fat reserves for hibernation
A magnificent stand of beech trees
Conkers await picking up and schoolboy stringing
Our hedges are filled with fluffy white old man’s beard; the seedheads of Clematis vitalba, ready to be dispersed in the breeze
October's full moon – sometimes known as the Hunter’s Moon – arrives on October 5
11 of the best places in Britain to enjoy Autumn colour
A riot of autumnal splendour has broken out across the country.
Top five autumn recipes
Read our top five most popular autumn recipes using everything from elderberries to mushrooms in our autumn food recipe round
How to make Tarte Tatin and 'Apple Hat' pudding this autumn
Simon Hopkinson suggests two sumptuous apple puddings for autumn: tarte tartin and 'apple hat'.
10 tips on how to forage this autumn
Foraging is more popular then ever – Hetty Chidwick squares up to the squirrels and shares some top tips for
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Why are humpback whales flocking to the UK?Humpback whales are typically infrequent visitors to the Cornish coast, but this year they've been spotted in increasing numbers in the South-West, the Isles of Scilly and as far up the Channel as Sussex.
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Dawn Chorus: The beavers who built a £1 million project for free, and Alexa Chung's new Barbour collection -
'The ultimate one-billion star hotel' — and it doesn't cost a penny to stayLewis Winks makes the case as to why the right to wild camp on Dartmoor is vital for us all.
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Dawn Chorus: The birds, the bees, the jaguars, and the orb-weaver spiders –everything you need to know about love in the animal kingdomPlus a look at one of London's best pubs, counting birds in the countryside, and the urban foxes of London.
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'The whiff of a McDonald’s Happy Meal has them pouring in': London, where the foxes are streets aheadThe urban fox is as much a part of the city as the red bus or St Paul's. Will this elusive animal outlast us all?
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Dawn Chorus: Gangster badgers, at home with Sienna Miller, and a fresh slap in the face for first-time buyersFriday's Dawn Chorus looks at a badger gan
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The truth about rewilding, by seven of Britain's most influential farmers, landowners and conservationistsAlthough the term 'rewilding' is contentious, most agree that our countryside could be better managed for wildlife. Yet what should we actually be doing to improve it?
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Six of the most beautiful waterfalls in Britain, from Devon to the Isle of SkyeSurging, foaming, trickling, crashing, cascading or flowing, waterfalls paint the landscape with rainbow-scattered spray and misty plumes. Here, we celebrate these streaks of molten silver, from wild moor to woodland dell, as picked out by our picture editor Lucy Ford.
