After an awful August and a soggy September, I am looking forward to the scrunch of October as I walk through woods ankle-deep in autumn leaves.
Sadly the colours of those leaves will not be their best this time round - you need a dry autumn to produce the chemical reaction that gives them their most vivid hues.
As the trees shed their leaves, many birds have already gone through their own moult. They have grown new feathers and are now looking at their best.
Moulting cock pheasants hide away in cornfields during August and September, as if embarrassed by their drab appearance. They reappear transformed in October with gleaming plumage and long sweeping tails.
Strangely, some cocks start to spar and fight for territory around this time. This is supposedly a springtime activity and I don't know why they do it now. Perhaps they are confused by shorter days and decide spring is in the air. By November, and the first frosts, they realise winter is coming and the sparring stops.
It has been a difficult harvest for farmers this year; and difficult too for some of our wildlife.
Breeding pairs of barn owls have had a poor season. Wet weather, a slump in vole numbers and the withdrawal of funding for set-aside, have all played their part.
Some barn owls have not even attempted to raise broods. Out of over 100 barn owl boxes I have put up in this area, the largest brood I found was three chicks. Last year the same boxes hosted several broods with five chicks each.
But some wildlife thrives in wet weather. This summer and last were a bonanza for blackbirds and badgers. Both hate drought because their main food source, the earthworm, goes deep underground during dry periods.
Today, I looked out of my studio window to see at least 30 blackbirds fighting over honeysuckle berries and pods from fuchsia shrubs.
Some of our native birds are particularly active now, becoming fiercely territorial and driving out their young as well as intruders to their patch.
Tawny owls are renowned for this. Listen out for their call “kee-wick” as well as their easily recognisable hoots.
And one of the best autumn spectacles the wet weather won't have affected is annual deer rut. Red deer rut in September and October and fallow deer in October and November.
The Scottish highlands are the stronghold for red deer , but there are other isolated populations dotted around the country, including in Ryedale. Most are made up of deer that have either been released or have escaped from deer farms and parks.
Cropton forest is one place you can see them, but getting a good sighting can be a bit hit-and-miss.
To guarantee seeing the action, go to Studley Royal deer park near Ripon. The deer there are magnificent, albeit somewhat larger than their wild counterparts.
For much of the year male ‘stags' and female ‘hinds' lead separate lives in single-sex herds.
The males spend this time constantly testing each other's strength and vying for position. They do this even when they have lost their antlers, standing on their hind legs and boxing each other like hares! I have been lucky enough to see this unusual behaviour several times in Scotland .
The competition comes to a head in October when the herds come together during the annual rut or mating season.
This is when the dominant stag defends a harem of hinds, guarding as many as possible from any rival stags or young interlopers to gain the mating rights for the season.
By now, the stags know the measure of each other's strength.
Sensibly, young stags are intimidated by the roars and posturing of showmanship of the more mature males and don't attempt to enter the main arena. Instead, they hang around watching from the sidelines.
It's not until you get two evenly matched stags that the game is on. When ritualised fights break out stags lock antlers and push each other with all their power and might.
The rules are simple: the losing stag is chased from the arena leaving the winning stag to control the harem.
During this commotion, you can get some crafty young stags seizing the moment to mate – sometimes right underneath the dominant stag's nose.
You can watch all this on foot at Studley Royal - but give these powerful animals some respect and don't go too close while they are pumped full of testosterone. And keep your dog on a lead; otherwise it could come out worse off.
As we take stock of what's happened during the main breeding season, we find there have been winners and losers and next season may be different again.
Do make the most of the evening light before the clocks go back. Shorter days, which hamper wildlife-watching, start next month.
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Wildlife Diary -
