September has been and gone and Autumn feels like it's finally arrived! The colours of the trees are starting to change, evenings are drawing in and of course, the wildlife have been settling in!

So, what's been spotted? Our visitor Ranger Sophie shares some highlights from September's sightings.

Birds

• Ring-necked parakeets - non native species and are increasing in numbers with a large roost forming on Roman Point. The highest count we've had so far of them leaving the roost of a morning has been approximately 79 birds! Watch out for their bright green colour as they fly around - and listen out for their tell-tale squawking!
• House martin
• Common sandpiper
• Raven - a few have been passing over recently
• Water rail - often heard squealing
• Little egret - frequently spotted on the island on Overton Lake
• Pochard
• Stonechat
• Wigeon - one of our winter migrants and another sign of the seasons changing. Look out for large groups of them on the lakes and wet meadows through the winter, as the Nene Valley is a stronghold for them to stay on
• Gadwall - a grey duck, easily overlooked
• Tufted duck - a black and white duck with a funky hairdo! 

Other

• Bats - noctule, daubenton's, soprano & common pipistrelle have all been heard on the first of this season's bat walks. The daubentons and pipistrelles were showing really well this week and although we didn't see noctules, their knocking call was heard on the bat detector and is fairly unmistakable!
• Butterflies - small heath, small copper and red admiral to name a few, but their season is largely coming to an end now.
• Common frog - spotted near one of the new reptile & amphibian survey mats along Heron Meadow
• Common lizard - spotted while the team were doing some green hay work along Ermine Street on the Rural Estate
• Otters - a couple of otters have been seen a bit more frequently recently. It's either they're coming back to the area for winter or they're coming to check on the progress of the new bridge...!
• Mink - one mink has been seen recently, not a great sign but they are seen far less frequently than they used to be. 

As ever, please keep us informed if you spot anything exciting on your October walks and share your photographs with us at [email protected].