Monday, October 2, 2017

In the Fall Woods (01 October 2017)

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. 
It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it?"

The above lines come from the classic novel Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery.  I must confess that I have never read this book, but this quote perfectly sums up how I feel about the month of October.

Long shadows are cast by the morning sun

Sunlight filters into the woods at Mission Creek Woodland Park

Joe-pye Weed stalks tower over the dying grasses and sedges

Backlit grasses, Joe-pye Weed, and tree trunks seen through a very light fog

A few asters are still blooming in the swamp

The sun shines through a Joe-pye Weed seed head

A deer trail through the dew-covered swamp

A backlit Red Maple leaf

Bottlebrush Grass (Elymus hystrix) covered with spider webs

From the canopy down - Swamp White Oak, Red Maple, American Hornbeam

The old flower stalk and seedhead of a Wild Leek - all that remains above ground of the plant until next spring.

A pair of Eastern Hemlock trees leans gracefully together without touching

This black-phase Grey Squirrel was busy feeding on the seeds of American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)

Seed-containing bracts of American Hornbeam

Another view of the American Hornbeam bracts

Rough-leaved Goldenrod blooms can still be found here-and-there in the swamp

Large swaths of ash trees in this swamp are dead - the victims of an Emerald Ash Borer infestation

Sensitive Ferns add their own color to the landscape

Red Maple leaves are currently turning (surprise!) red and falling to the ground

Bur Oak and other leaves on the forest floor


If you would like to read Anne of Green Gables or to download it as an audiobook, it can be found here.

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