Well! I've been out and about in the past month and a half, and also working hard, and in that time: Fall happened! The weather report is calling for snow this weekend (!), so this seems like the best and last time to share the pictures of fall in Central New York that have been gathering on my computer since my last post. I missed this season deeply during my year in Northern California, so I tried to absorb as much fall as I could in recent weeks. Here are some sights from all of fall!
Way back on October 11, I was at the Roy H. Park Preserve just as the fall foliage was really getting going. I love seeing the trees make these waves of color:
A pair of White Cabbage Butterflies were feeding at New England Aster blossoms (Aster novae-angliae) while also making the next generation of butterflies. Actually, I guess just the one butterfly was feeding while the other was along for the ride. This whole process looks rather ungainly, but I guess it works:
All sorts of interesting fungi were sprouting up in the damp woods. This one log was home to at least three types of fungi, all with such different shapes and textures:
And this strange fungus looked like it was bubbling out of its tree's trunk:
A lovely little Garter Snake sat on the sunny forest floor near the path, waiting for the humans to move on:
A few days later, on October 14, I was back at another part of the Park Preserve, again marveling at the colors on the trees. Yes, we do fall pretty well here. I'll take it!
This was apparently a good week for snakes, because I nearly stepped on a Northern Water Snake who was basking on the path and looking way too much like a scraggly root:
The snake stayed motionless while we walked around it -- it was a chilly morning after all -- and I got to peek at its face through the grass:
In the woods, bright Canada Mayflower berries looked like little clusters of Christmas ornaments:
An almost-as-red dragonfly (one of the late-flying Meadowhawk species, I think) perched nearby, lacy wings against a lacy fallen leaf:
I'm always impressed that some insects are able to survive into the fall, past frosts and increasing cold. Several big grasshoppers were active in the marshy fields, and this one paused long enough on the boardwalk to have its picture taken:
On October 29, I got to walk in Sapsucker Woods, and the place was wonderful as always. The trees in some parts of these woods were bare by this point:
But other areas of the woods were still full and golden:
Witch Hazel blossoms floated over the path. How cool to see yellow leaves and yellow blossoms in the same day:
The view at the big pond was so still and beautiful:
A few Painted Turtles were out sunning, including this fellow with his impressively long claws:
And then, all of a sudden, it was late fall. On November 8, I was back at the Park Preserve, and the place was wholly different:
I have to say, for all the amazing riot of color in early-to-mid fall, I think I might love the muted colors of late fall around here even more... the floating yellows especially (are those birches?) but also the rusted browns and hazy grays and dark conifer greens. Ah, love:
The fields were filled with goldenrods gone to seed, here backlit for extra drama:
Even at this late date, a showy Meadowhawk dragonfly was still cruising around:
I happened to take a picture of almost the same scene at the Park Preserve nearly a month apart, and I love how these sights are both the same and totally different. Here's October 14:
Two weekends ago, on September 24, Paul and I went for a morning walk in Cornell's Sapsucker Woods. I'm starting to really love this place, and this visit held some particularly special moments. First, we finally found the Andy Goldsworthy sculpture that's eluded us on previous visits; this stonework cairn is tucked into the forest alongside a path, and it's lovely and subtle and such a fitting feature in these quiet woods:
A juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker blended into the shaded trunk where it was foraging; a sapsucker in Sapsucker Woods, how appropriate!
Green Frogs peered up at us from a small green-covered pond:
And one frog posed nicely on a dark log:
At one point, we rounded a bend in the path to see big dark shapes up ahead:
We'd wandered into a Wild Turkey parlor, and these birds were understandably wary about our appearance:
But we stayed where we were -- some distance from the birds, although not really very far away -- and after a minute or so, the turkeys started preening. One turkey even laid down right in the middle of the path to preen, settling into a sunbeam:
These turkeys certainly knew we were there -- the front turkey kept an especially close watch on us -- but they seemed willing to share their space with us. Here's a video of these turkeys preening (pardon the noise of an airplane flying overhead):
Eventually, we decided to continue on our way; and as we came closer to them, the turkeys just calmly stood up and ambled off into the woods. Through the whole encounter, I kept thinking how extraordinarily polite these birds were. Thank you, wonderful big creatures, for letting us be with you in your woods for a little while:
So that was awesome. A little further down the path, a flock of hundreds of Common Grackles worked through the forest around us. And past the grackles, I found Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana) emerging from the forest floor:
I didn't even know that this plant existed before I saw it. Beechdrops, it turns out, is one of those weird types of leafless plants that gets its nutrients by parasitizing another plant (in this case, American Beech trees). These small flowers on plain branching stems are actually quite lovely up close:
At the end of our walk, a Painted Turtle basked in a sunny pond:
And colorful sprays of goldenrod and aster -- so many colors! -- decorated the path back to the parking lot:
And speaking of colors, in the two weeks since I took these pictures, the landscape here has almost entirely changed. Fall has arrived, and it's wonderful. Hooray for seasons, and woods, and big polite birds.
Up until this past Saturday, it had been probably over a year since I last saw wild turtles. We never saw the one species of turtle in northwestern California while we were living there, and despite many walks around ponds, wetlands, and streams since moving to New York in July, there's still been a surprising lack of turtle sightings. But on Saturday morning, I visited the Cornell Plantations Arboretum, and apparently the ponds here are where all the turtles live.
Some children and their families were there tossing what looked like cereal into the water, and dozens of turtles were eagerly snatching up the food right along with the fish. There were lots of Painted Turtles, and, crazily enough, two huge Common Snapping Turtles right in the middle of it all:
I've never seen snapping turtles acting so much like fish, or like other turtles for that matter. What are these monsters doing casually swimming around in the light instead of lurking in some corner?
Easy food is a powerful motivator I guess. In any case, I loved getting to see these creatures' algae-covered faces:
Yikes, what a wonderful monster:
The Painted Turtles were also lovely, of course, with their beautifully patterned shells:
While the turtles fed in one area of the pond, big tadpoles in another part of the pond kept swimming up to the surface (to grab a morsel of something while the pond's predators were otherwise engaged?) then diving immediately back down into murky water. Those tadpoles were too quick for my camera, but some young Bullfrogs perched on waterlily pads were easier (and very handsome) subjects:
I was sure I'd find turtles sooner or later, but I'm glad I got to see such an impressive group before summer starts to wind down!
Apparently the southern edge of Lake Erie is an amazing place to see birds during spring migration, because northbound birds often pause in the neighboring woodlands to refuel before heading off across the lake. So now that we're in the middle of May and migration is in full swing (yay!), I'm taking as many opportunities as I can to go check out some of these areas. On Monday morning, I visited Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve -- a park with woods and marshes on the shores of Lake Erie -- and there were animals everywhere. I ended up seeing 54 bird species (which is really good for me), including 11 species of warbler. Basically everywhere I went, something was moving around in the trees!
A male Indigo Bunting was showing off his astonishing blue feathers in a small clearing in the woods:
Indigo Buntings are awesome, of course, but I got super excited when a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers showed up nearby!
Oh my goodness, what a beautiful bird. I've never seen a Red-headed Woodpecker before, and I love that sleek costume, so different from our other woodpeckers. And how cool to see two of these birds at once!
I wonder if they'll be raising a family here:
Near the marshes, a male Baltimore Oriole paused, panting, after a chase:
And an immature male Orchard Oriole (I don't see these birds very often!) was foraging not far away:
These flowering willow trees were a big hit with many of the smaller birds. Several Tennessee Warblers were going after these flowers:
Tennessee Warblers are very vaguely patterned (by warbler standards), but I was able to identify these guys because they were singing pretty much nonstop. Here's a video of one of the Tennesee Warblers at work:
A gorgeous male Yellow Warbler popped out of a bush for a quick picture and then went right back to his foraging:
This male Cape May Warbler (so pretty!) spent some time hunting directly above my head:
Hey, nice catch:
I didn't mean to take this flying-away picture, but I think it looks pretty cool:
A pretty little male Wilson's Warbler (another new bird for me) lurked in the undergrowth:
My favorite warbler sighting of the day was a male Chestnut-sided Warbler who was nice enough to come down to my level to hunt. I absolutely love this bird's costume, with those fancy brown sides, yellow-and-gray striped wings, black mask, and yellow hat:
Hello, beautiful bird:
This creature looks almost fierce from the front:
But from other angles he's just handsome:
Yes, Chestnut-sided Warblers are definitely some of my favorites:
There were some big birds hanging around, too, like this Red-tailed Hawk who soared overhead:
The birds were awesome, but there were tons of other interesting creatures around as well. A couple of Eastern Chipmunks had a standoff in the middle of the path:
And there they go!
Speaking of strange things on the path, I didn't expect to find this Crayfish making its way along the pavement; I hope it safely got where it was going:
Giant fish churned the waters of the marsh; I think these are some sort of non-native carp:
And there were turtles everywhere! Painted Turtles piled up on basking logs:
Some of the Painted Turtles were particularly small and cute:
This little turtle objected to the arrival of a bigger fellow:
It's OK, little guy:
I was also excited to see more Blanding's Turtles, which are listed as a threatened species in Ohio:
How adorable is this big Blanding's Turtle's face?
It was nice to meet you, lovely turtle:
It was quite an eventful morning! With May not even half over, here's hoping I can make it back up to a park next to Lake Erie sometime soon!
