One of my favourite autumnal sounds is wind sighing through trees and the rustle of falling leaves as they flutter earthwards, all very calming and soothing, especially in the present circumstances.

But in late autumn and early winter, sounds emanating from the natural world may be somewhat muted compared with other seasons

Apart from contact calls among birds and the occasional shriek of a jay foraging for acorns there is no birdsong.

We may have to wait until the end of this month to hopefully hear the initial musings of thrushes and blackbirds.

However, what concerns me is the absence of blackbirds in my area. Normally there would be a pair on my lawn (Pictured) most days searching for worms but I've not seen any for several weeks.

There is no garden robin either, usually an ever present in my garden but sadly not this autumn.

The loudest bird with its repetitive yelping notes is the rose-ringed parakeet whose population is unfortunately escalating out of control.

The vocalisation of deer in the Royal Parks is lessening now as the rutting season draws to a close. But any time now we will begin to hear the' wow-wow-wow' calls of dog foxes and the answering banshee reply of vixens during the night as their mating season begins.

Another sound we may possibly hear, if the weather turns mild , is the croaking of frogs, for sometimes they awake from hibernation briefly although spawning will not take place until February at the earliest.