How to Study Phenology in the Fall

Phenology is the study of the timing of natural events, particularly with regard to how they vary from one year to the next. The natural events occur at two main times of the year: spring and fall (autumn).

Historically, people have studied the timing of natural events in the spring far more than those in the autumn. I guess this is because spring is much-anticipated as it brings the promise of warmer and brighter days ahead. Autumn, on the other hand, is much less studied, but this makes it all the more interesting. The factors that affect the timing of autumn events seem more complex than those for spring and consequently there is much to learn. Also, as autumn has been studied much less, there is a greater need or more data, so your observations make an important contribution to our current knowledge of the subject.

What to study?

Which natural events can you look for? This does depend to some extent on what you are interested in because you can study birds, trees, flowers and fungi. Perhaps you would like to have a go at all of them. I'm going to deal with each in turn, giving examples from where I live in the UK. You may have to use different examples, depending on where you live, but this article should give you a good idea of the general principles involved.

Birds

Where you live there will be birds that reside throughout the winter and others that migrate away. You may also have some birds that migrate to your area for the winter. For those exiting migrants you can record the dates when you last see them. Where I live, the most well-known bird for this is the Swallow, but other examples include: Blackcap, Chiffchaff, House Martin, Sand Martin, Spotted Flycatcher, Swift, Turtle Dove, Wheatear, Whitethroat, and Willow Warbler. Note that some of these birds may stay all winter if the weather is mild enough.

How do you record the last date you've seen a bird? Well, it is done the other way round, so to speak. Each day you record the birds you see and after doing this for a few days you will notice that there will be a few days with no records and this indicates that they have departed for sunnier climes. You can then look back at your records to see the last date that you saw them

Some birds will arrive and be resident in the winter. For these birds you can record the first date you see them. Such birds include Bewick's Swan, Fieldfare, Redwing, Waxwing and Whooper Swan.

Trees

Trees are very popular subjects to study in phenology in the autumn as they clearly show the changing season with their yellow leaves and ripening fruits.

With trees there are two things to look out for: leaf tint and leaf drop. Leaf tint means that you can see one leaf that is all yellow, still attached to the tree. (You can see yellow leaves on the ground, but that may have turned yellow after falling). On some trees the leaves turn maroon or red first, rather than yellow.

Now you have to be careful here because some leaves turn brown because the tree is short of water and some turn brown because of an infection from, e.g a fungus, or due to insect infestation. What we are recording is leaves changing colour due to the onset of autumn, not because drought or illness. With autumn tinting the leaves will change colour but still look healthy and keep their shape. A wrinkled, dried brown leaf will have changed due to lack of water and a leaf with brown patches will have an infection. Horse-chestnut is particularly prone to this, so you have to be careful. Also, note that the leaf has to be fully yellow (or red) not pale green or yellow with green on the edges, but completely yellow.

The second thing to record for trees is leaf drop. This is easier to observe, as you record when you see the first leaves on the ground, for whatever reason. Note that in many trees the leaves can fall when they are green, so this can occur before you see any tinting.

For leaf tint and leaf drop you record the date of the first leaves tinting and then a 100% tinted tree, the first leaves to drop and then a 100% bare tree. Note that for some trees, such as Common Lime or Guelder Rose, this can be in July. In Phenology, autumn/fall starts early!

In the past I've recorded intermediate events such as 25% tinting and 50%, but is difficult to judge this sometimes. It is also difficult to compare your assessment of 25% with someone else's, so your results aren't comparable. However, for your own records, It can be a more consistent and reliable feature than first leaf and 100%.

Fruit

One of the notable features of autumn is the production of ripe fruit by a number of different trees and shrubs. Some of the berries and nuts can provide a welcome free source of natural food, but be careful: some are very poisonous as well!

You can record the dates of any tree or shrub that produces nuts or fruit. There are three things that are recorded: the date fruit is ripe, the date fruits drops or falls from a tree and a measure of how good this years crop has been.

How do you know when a fruit is ripe? It is actually a little trickier than you might think. Clearly the fruit changes colour and birds can be seen to eat them, but the fruit may still be a little unripe at this stage. I usually look to see if it has changed colour and it is squashy/compressible as well.

If a fruit has changed colour and dropped from a tree or bush, you can assume it is ripe. Sometimes the fruit drop date is easier to notice than the fruit ripening.

The earliest fruits to ripen where I live are Japanese Cherry and Bird Cherry, both in mid-July. There are many other well-known fruits to keep an eye out for, such as Blackberry(Bramble), Blackthorn(Sloes), Hawthorn, Bittersweet, Yew, Apple and Pear. Just about the last ripening berries you will see are Ivy.

You can also record a measure of how good the year's crop has been for a particular fruit. This is done on a scale of 1-5, 1 being a poor year and 5 a bumper harvest. I find it interesting that some years are good for certain fruits and other years are poor. The judgment of a good/moderate/poor year, though, can only come with experience, so it is not a measurement for beginners to make in their first year.

Wild Flowers

At this time of year, most plants are in flower. One exception is ivy and you can record the first flowering dates for this most important winter food source. Some other late flowerers include Chinese Mugwort, Butterfly Stonecrop and Winter Heliotrope.

Fungi

Autumn is the best season for seeking out fungi and you can keep observing until December. Fungi are a little harder to identify than wild flowers, so it is a good idea to go on a walk with an expert or a local group. Such walks are often called 'fungal forays'. The most common fungi to record are the easiest to recognise, which include Fly Agaric and the Shaggy Ink-cap.

Be Organised

The way you organise your recording in autumn is the same as for the spring: Plan a route around your local neighbourhood, to include all the sights that are best for observing the different events you want to record.

For Autumn observations it is important to have the locations of all your trees carefully noted because once a tree loses its leaves, it can be difficult to identify afterwards. Also, keep a note of bird sightings until you stop seeing them for a few days. You can then look back to see the date they migrated away.

Conclusion

Autumn is a very interesting time of year to record observations, partly because they have been less studied. It also brings to your attention a fascinating series of events with a very different tone and colour to those in spring. It extends your natural history year by a fascinating few months.

As I said earlier, fall/autumn phenology has been studied far less than spring phenology, so if you can submit your observations to a national organisation, they will be very well received and make a real contribution to our current knowledge of the subject.

Michael Knaggs is an enthusiastic and experienced naturalist based in Yorkshire, England. He has been observing birds, flowers and butterflies since he was 12 years old. He is currently a member of the Wild Flower Socity and Bradford Botany Group and contributes to Natures Calendar, an annual phenology survey run by the Woodland Trust.

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How to Study Phenology in the Spring

If you are starting to study phenology then it is likely that you will start in the spring. After a winter break it is the time of year when things are starting to happen in the natural world and it is a logical time to begin your observations.

What to study?

Which natural events do you look for? This does depend on what you are interested in because you can study birds, mammals, amphibians, insects, trees and flowers. Perhaps you would like to have a go at all of them. Below I give some suggestions. They apply to where I live in the UK, so you may have to change them for your own country, but they will give you a good idea of the principles involved.

Birds

Where you live there will be some birds that stay through the winter and others that have migrated away. For those returning migrants you can record the dates when you first see them. For me, such birds include: Swallow, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, House Martin, Sand Martin, Spotted Flycatcher, Swift, Turtle Dove, Wheatear and Willow Warbler.

Some birds will have been resident in the winter, but return to other countries in the spring. For these birds you can record the last date you have seen them. Whre I live, examples include Fieldfare, Redwing, Brambling, Brent Goose and Bewick's Swan.

Other birds are resident all year round. For these birds you can record when they start building nests, when you first see them feeding chicks and when you first see juveniles out of the nest. Where I live, such birds include Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Thrush and, Rook (for nest-building).

Amphibians

Amphibians are very active in spring, seeking suitable ponds for mating. You can record your first sighting of newts. For frogs and toads record the first sightings of spawn and tadpoles.

Insects

Insects such as butterflies, wasps and bees also start building colonies and laying eggs in the spring so you can keep an eye out for these. For bees and wasps, you can record your first sightings but also look out for queens as well. If you do not know what a queen looks like, you can consult a field guide or look for pictures on the internet. In the UK we look for Red-tailed Bumblebees (the familiar black, yellow and white ones are tricky to tell apart), Carder Bees (the ginger ones), Honey Bees and Wasps.

Butterflies are very popular insects to study in spring. You can record the first sightings for just about any butterfly you see. The earliest butterflies to appear are Brimstone, Comma, Orange Tip, Peacock, Green-veined White, Small White and Holly Blue.

Trees

Trees are very popular subjects to study in phenology as they clearly symbolise the changing seasons with their fresh young leaves and flowers in spring and orange-brown leaves and fruits in autumn. They are also noticeably large, easy to identify and easy to observe.

With trees, there are three things to spot: budburst, first leaf appearing and first flower. Budburst refers to the leaf buds: they appear in late winter, but there will come a point when you can see them split, ready for the leaf to emerge. It is this splitting that you look out for. The first leaves to appear are often at the very top of the tree, so a pair of binoculars may be needed. Also, be careful with flowers on trees, they can be small and insignificant so you need to look closely.

You can record these events for any deciduous tree species, but they can work for trees like Holly, Yew and Scots Pine as well, it's just that their new leaves aren't so obvious. The classic trees to study are: Alder, Horse Chestnut, Rowan, Field Maple, Silver Birch, Beech, Larch, Sycamore, Pedunculate Oak, Sessile Oak and Ash. Shrubs such as Hazel, Blackthorn, Dog Rose and Lilac are also popular.

Wild Flowers

The first sightings of wild flowers are also encouraging signs of spring, so it is good to look for them and record the first date you see them. Well-known flowers that bloom early in the year include Snowdrop, Winter Aconite, Lesser Celandine, Colt's-foot, Crocus, Wood Anemone, Cuckoo Flower, Daffodil and Bluebell.

If you would like to take a step further, you can study the more recognisable grasses. These flower later than the spring flowers. Suitable grasses to study are Cock's-foot, Meadow Foxtail, Timothy Grass and Yorkshire Fog. When you first see them, they won't be in flower, so be careful. When they are in flower they will open up noticeably and change colour as the anthers appear. For example Meadow Foxtail becomes orangey-brown and Timothy Grass a nice mauve colour.

What Equipment Do I Need?

To study phenology, very little specialist equipment is needed. You will need a field guide to help you identify all the birds, animals, insects and plants. A notebook to record your observations (which eventually will go onto a computer) is essential. In addition, binoculars are useful, as birds and animals can be elusive, but also the first leaves and flowers appearing on trees are often at the very top. Some waterproof clothing and good footwear are also essential.

Be Organised

Now, you could just go out for a walk and serendipitously record whatever you see, and you can have an enjoyable time doing that, but your records can become rather random and you will miss many observations. Also, your records from one year to the next will not be comparable.

In my experience, it is best to follow a set route around your local neighbourhood. Your route should include all the locations where the natural events that you want to record take place.

Now, you may ask, how do I know here the best sites are? Well, a good start is to ask for advice from other naturalists. Additionally, you can visit the most promising sites in your area and see what you find there. It does take a lot of research and reconnaissance, but eventually you will have a list of locations and events to observe when you visit them.

In your notebook, it is helpful to write down the route and which events you will see at each point. This reminds you to look for the correct trees, birds, etc at the correct location. This works well if, like me, you are a bit scatter-brained and easily distracted. Having a set route and a list of things to look for in advance will help you to observe the natural events sooner and keep your observations consistent from year to year.

Be warned, the first events to observe, such as Hazel catkins, can be in January. In phenology, spring starts very early.

The dates you record are your earliest observation. They should be early trendsetters, not an unusual one-off. So, if you observe an event one week, you should see three or four of the same event the week after. Be careful of that strange tree that flowers in January or the birds that nest in December. You also want to observe typical wildlife in its normal habitat, so be careful, for example, of windswept exposed trees, flowers that grow next to lights and birds that nest on an artificially warm building.

Conclusion

It may seem that you have to do a lot of organising and planning, but once you start making your observations you will soon see what a wonderful structure it brings to your wildlife observations. One observation will lead naturally to the next. They will teach you much about the organisms you see and provide a delightful narrative of the natural year.

Michael Knaggs is an enthusiastic and experienced naturalist based in Yorkshire, England. He has been observing birds, flowers and butterflies since he was 12 years old. He has been studying Phenology since 2006 and contributes records to Natures Calendar, a Phenology survey run by the Woodland Trust in the UK.

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Phenology - A Study of the Changing Seasons

Phenology is the study of natural events that occur in nature, with particular regard to their timing. To study phenology you will need to keep a nature diary and record when you see different events occurring.

Your records provide information for a long-term study as the timing of events each year are compared with previous years to see if there are any trends.

Phenology is mostly studied in countries where there is a definite change of seasons throughout the year. So it is well suited to countries that have a spring-summer-autumn/fall-winter cycle. Although there is nothing to stop you studying phenology in a country with a different climate. All you need are some annual events that occur at particular times of the year.

Where I live, in the UK, we have a spring-summer-autumn-winter cycle and the two main seasons studied are spring and autumn. This is because these are the two seasons where the most changes and natural events take place.

In spring you can study:

Mammals, reptiles & amphibians

When hibernating animals are first seenFor particular animals, when they change to their summer coat

Birds

When winter residents leaveWhen migratory birds arriveWhen male birds start singing or performing rituals to attract femalesWhen birds start building nestsWhen birds start feeding chicksWhen juveniles are first seen out of the nest

Insects

When particular insects are first seen

Trees

When trees are in bud and ready to produce leaves (an event called budburst)When the first leaves appearWhen flowers appear

For wild flowers

When the flower is first seen, in full bloom.

In the UK, spring phenology has been studied for over 200 years. People have always been very interested in the first signs of spring, as they bring the promise of warmer weather to come.

The first sightings of a Cuckoo or Swallow are well-received. The first Peacock or Orange-tip butterflies are anticipated. With trees, the first flowers on Blackthorn and Hawthorn are very welcome and the first leaves on Oak and Ash trees are keenly noted.

In autumn you can study:

Mammals, reptiles & amphibians

when hibernating animals are last seen

Birds

Trees

When leaves are first tinted yellowWhen leaves fall offWhen trees are bare

Trees and Shrubs

When fruit first appearsHow much fruit is produced

Fungi

When different fungi are first seen

Autumn phenology has been studied far less, so there is still much to learn about autumn events and which factors influence their timings.

Not all birds, insects, trees or flowers show a clear seasonal variation in their life-cycle, but most do, so studying phenology helps you to learn a lot about the wildlife that lives in your local area.

Why study phenology?

Studying phenology helps you to learn about the events that occur in the wildlife around you. It helps you to appreciate the changing seasons and makes you aware of the effect weather can have on wildlife. It brings to your attention 'early' and 'late' years and helps you to understand why this happens. In the long term it helps to see if our climate is changing and if this will have an effect on the wildlife around us.

You can study phenology on your own and keep your personal annual diary if you wish. However, the information you collect is very useful and you can join a national scheme that collects data from many other people throughout your country. These larger data sets are useful in studying our climate on a national and global scale.

Most of all, though, studying phenology helps you to understand the yearly cycle that wildlife goes through, the different events that occur and how everything fits together and is dependent on so many other things happening at the right time. Although, at first glance, studying phenology seems little more than recording a series of dates, it provides an insight into the complex and detailed ecosystems of the organisms we share our planet with.

Michael Knaggs is a keen and enthusiastic naturalist from Yorkshire, England. He has been observing birds, butterflies and wild flowers since he was 12 years old. He has been studying phenology since 2006 and contributes to Natures Calendar, a phenology study run by the Woodland Trust in the UK.

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