Country diary: The rooks and jackdaws are mob-handed and hungry for apples

‘From below the apples look fine, but then … you grab a half-eaten apple that is now home to a number of wasps.’ Photograph: John Gilbey

The falling leaves from the ash trees swirl and tumble in the strong breeze from the west. Rain, heavy and insistent, drives against the window as the sky darkens – then the sound of gurgling in the downpipe is replaced by the anarchic splatter of unregulated water as the gutter overflows on to the path. As the rain eases, we begin the familiar task of putting things to rights.

The last of the leaves. Photograph: John Gilbey