But it is also a magical time where the winter thrushes such as the Redwing and Fieldfare will be arriving from Scandanavia to take advantage of our bumper crops of Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Holly and Rowan (Mountain Ash), and if we are lucky, perhaps some Waxwings too?

For these species, gardens can be a sought-after habitat for them where fruit trees can provide valuable food, and windfallen fruit left on lawns or on bird tables have rewarded garden lovers with some winter visitors. One autumn advantage however is the trees losing their foliage, so it will be easier to see the birds amongst them.

The autumn also brings out fungi in their myriad of colours, shapes and sometimes smells too. In this article I am going to feature four special species to look out for on your walks around the beautiful reserves of Gwent Wildlife Trust - including the very unusual Dog Stinkhorn, Autumn Gentian, Common Crossbill and the Magpie Ink Cap.

As a young nature lover, I grew up with a selection of books and the release of a weekly magazine called 'The Living Countryside' which provided a wealth of knowledge and lots of pictures of flora and fauna and this caught my imagination. One of my fungi books in particular had several species that were on my 'must see' list, one of which was the Dog Stinkhorn. A lot of us are familiar with the more common Stinkhorn fungus, that despite its rude appearance and matching Latin name, it gives off a foul smell reminiscent of rotting meat which attracts the local flies to it, and believe me, the smell alerts you to the fungi's presence long before you actually see it. When on one late autumn afternoon in a Beech woodland with a scattering of other deciduous trees such as Sycamore, Ash and Birch, when you are walking around a low clump of Bramble and happen to glance down and see a strange, small fungi with an orange tip on a white stalk - it makes you stop in your tracks, especially when you realise straight away what it is you have found.

So, imagine my excitement at finding my first ever Dog Stinkhorn fungus. No longer was I confined to enjoying their strange look and colour in the books, now I was staring down at them in person, right there and then. I was surprised to see more of them scattered around and realised that unlike their cousin they do not grow singly, but in small groups. I found 25 that day and was ecstatic. I had a friend with me who is a park's ranger and I called him over with great excitement. The Dog Stinkhorn (Mutinus caninus) is a small, delicate stinkhorn with a yellow stalk and a red apex to the gleba (tip). The ball-shaped egg is 1-2cm in diameter, white, gelatinous, smooth and attached by root-like cords. The stalk is 9-12cm tall when fully expanded. It is cylindrical and spongy being mostly yellowish with a whitish base. The tip is covered by a dark olive-green slime (except for the red apex itself), and can be found amongst the leaf litter in woodlands and usually in groups.

Nowhere as near as smelly as the Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus), they are still quite able to attract the insects they need, and in fact the mornings can be the best time to see these fungi at their best. Although predominantly found in broadleaf woodlands, they can occasionally occur in conifer forests, particularly under spruces. Belonging to a group called the 'cage fungi', they were previously included in the order Gasterromycetes along with the puffballs. The slime has an unpleasant smell much loved by flies which are attracted to the fungi, eat the spores and thereby disperse them. Nature is clever. The benefits of the sites owned and managed by the Gwent Wildlife Trust means that people can enjoy an incredible diversity of flora and fauna, and with all habitats catered for there really is something for everyone.

Recently, I visited Magor Marsh reserve for the first time and saw a wonderful array of species and left thinking to myself 'why on earth haven't I come here sooner'.

The Autumn Gentian is a short plant that can be easily overlooked, and favour areas where the grass has been cropped short by rabbits. I remember finding my first ever ones by accident. I was having a tea break and sat down on the short grass when slightly to my left I noticed a short, flowering plant with delicate purply-blue flowers. It was an exciting moment as I was pretty sure what I was looking at, but closer inspection confirmed my thoughts - they were a new species for me, and I counted only five, but one would have been enough to fuel my excitement. Over the years the colony has increased and last year I counted 46 growing - I wonder if this autumn will top that?  It can be hit and miss for these little beauties as not only do they run the risk of the rabbits nibbling them during their nocturnal feeding forays.

The name 'gentian', according to the Roman writer Pliny the Elder, derived from Gentinus - a king of the ancient Illyrians, who was credited with discovering the plant's medicinal properties. The Autumn Gentian (Gentianella amarella) is often found growing in damp hollows in sand-dunes which have their own climate but can also be found growing in short-grazed grass in open areas inland too. They are an upright plant with several branches with spoon-shaped basal leaves with the stem leaves oval or lance shaped. They can often be seen growing with vetches. The petal tube is about twice as long as the tube formed by the sepals and each flower has a fringe of pale hairs on its throat. I enjoy finding this species as not only is it easy to walk past, it is a beautiful little plant with soft pink to bluish flowers. Last year the group I have been watching for many years finally topped over 40 plants.

This is the beauty of autumn, sunny mornings, still air and weather systems that allow for a multitude of fungi to grow, and autumn bird migration will be in full swing. At night in early September, I find myself outside in the dark, somewhere quiet, listening to the first 'seep seep' calls of migrating Redwings. I also find myself spending more time in the woodlands to see what fungi I can find - visiting several special woodlands in particular and always hoping for that something a little different or special. And talking of which, anywhere where there are Pines with cone crops, especially Norway Spruce or even European Larch left over from the larch removal project, then keep your ears open for a loud 'chip chip' call. This is the Common Crossbill which in the autumn will form feeding flocks. They call as they fly from one feeding site to the other and also call to each other when feeding. In Spain, the Catalan name for them is 'Trencanpynion' which means 'pine nut cracker'.

Originally Common Crossbills came here for the autumn from the forests of Scandanavia and Norway as our winters are milder, and then returned in time for the breeding season, but since at least the early 1990s many small groups here and there have remained all year round, where our milder winters allow them to continue with a ready supply of food. It is the seeds inside the cones themselves they are after, but these make the birds thirsty, and every hour or so, they will come down to a pool on the woodland or forest floor to drink, so if you know of one such area, it is worth hunkering down quietly and waiting. Patience will reward you. It is a great moment when walking through the pine woods and suddenly noticing little flakes of pine cones drifting down on the breeze to the ground. Above will be the Crossbills who are delving into the pine cones and extracting the outer layer. I have seen this a few times and it is a great scene to watch. The nest is a simple twig platform built near the trunk of the tree where 4 off-white eggs are laid with bold spots.

The bill is unique in the avian kingdom and is superbly adapted to extracting seeds from the cones of conifers. This also ensures there is no competition from other species too. Although they can be a solitary species, they will form large feeding groups where there is safety in numbers and a better chance of finding cone crops. The loud persistent 'chip chip' call is characteristic once learned, with a song that comprises of trilling notes, similar to the Greenfinch. They are a colourful finch with the adult male being a bright, brick-red colour (apart from the dark wings). The adult female is an olive-green (again apart from the dark wings).  Juveniles however are heavily streaked with an overall brown plumage. The upper mandible crosses over the lower mandible to give the bird its name, and is used to prise open a seed cone where almost like a pair of tweezers, and where they can extract the softer seeds inside.

One of the delights for me now in the autumn, is a species of fungi that I have only seen three times over all the years I have been studying nature, and the past two autumns I have been lucky in finding them each time, and this autumn I will certainly be on the hunt for them again. This particular species I first seen when on a Sunday morning walk with my late father who was a keen wildlife lover and who got me into nature. We found a strange looking fungus amongst the grass on the edge of a woodland, and laughed at how its colours were like a Magpie. In fact, when checking in the books at home it was indeed called just that - Magpie Ink Cap. I never thought I would see one of these and they looked as characteristic in real life as in the books. This was in the early- middle 1990s, and every autumn after I looked for this species and never saw it again, so that first one had fond memories for me in a number of ways.

Fast forward to 2019, in the same woodland but about half a mile further in, there one autumn evening after work, I nipped down to use the last few hours of good light to search for fungi, and there by the base of some Beech trees I could see a tallish, thin stalk with a black dome shaped cap, and on this cap were white flakes - wow, my second ever Magpie Ink Cap - and three this time. My memory instantly took me back to the first find years earlier with my late father, and I was sad that he was no longer here to see this, but also happy at rekindling that memory as if it were yesterday. It was like a part of him was with me that afternoon, and my joy at seeing this species again was one of great elation. 

Last autumn in between the lockdowns, I purposely covered that same spot on every visit but there were none to be seen, was it going to be another long set of years before I would find some more? Well, actually no, it turned out to be about a week of waiting, where in the same woodland but further over again I found the best specimen so far with a fresh one just emerging alongside in the leaf litter. Joy and memories again came flooding back.

The Magpie Ink Cap (Coprinopsis picacea)  has a wonderful patterning of white or silvery-grey on a shiny dark background and makes for a beautiful subject to photograph. As with other large inkcap species, the gills are 'deliquesce' - a process which aids spore dispersal particularly in the wet weather. The fruitbodies are short-lived, and a patient observer could in one day (with patience) see the elongated egg form to the conical shape and then bell-like as the cottony universal veil break into separate patches to reveal the glossy dark background.

They occur most often in Beech woodlands and usually as single specimens. Sometimes they can be found under Oaks. They are rare finds in Britain and Ireland where they are mainly restricted to alkaline areas. The cap is 3-7cm across and the stem 10-20cm tall becoming bell-shaped. The margins turn outwards before blackening and deliquescing from the rim. The silvery-white fibrils separate into patches as the cap expands. So, this rounds up four special species to look for this autumn and winter, and by visiting new reserves and habitats you are always in with a chance of seeing these species if you haven't already?

Either way, it is nice just to be out in the crisp autumn air, exploring the reserves, seeing nature in all its glory and improving your wellbeing at the same time - a win win situation really.  Enjoy and happy searching.