Transition

 

Bloody Run overlook
Bloody Run overlook

 

 

What a difference a month makes!

 

Bumblebee & coneflower
Bumblebee & coneflower

Early October may bring shirt-sleeve afternoons, bumblebees nectaring on lingering coneflowers, a lone hummingbird drinking sugar-water before heading south, and hillsides of still-green oaks. Chicken-of-the-woods fungi thrive on a decaying oak stump, and pure-white puffballs sprout seemingly overnight on the forest floor.

 

Chicken of the woods
Chicken of the woods

By mid-month, shimmering gold is replacing the greens, and the hardy gentians and asters (and pesky dandelions!) are about the only flowers still in bloom.

Stiff gentian
Stiff gentian

Oh, almost forgot the witch hazel – the uncommon shrub whose dainty yellow flowers bloom just as the leaves also turn yellow. Fields of goldenrod have turned dusky-brown, although the clumps of big and little bluestem and Indiangrass glow a warm purple in the morning sun.

Witch hazel
Witch hazel

 

No better time for a hike in the woods than October, when fallen leaves crunch, and still-hanging leaves paint crimson-orange-bronze-purple on the hillsides.

 

Then come the October winds, a series of cold fronts, and crisp, clear nights.

By next morning, the garden green beans and zucchini have turned limp and brown – and the puzzled robins and goldfinches are ice-skating on the birdbath.

 

Ice-skating robin
Ice-skating robin

The last turkey vultures apparently caught a ride southward on the north winds, but those same breezes may have carried the first pine siskin to our feeder – along with the sharp-shinned hawk that now patrols our yard.

First siskin
First siskin

 

Hungry sharpie
Hungry sharpie

Deer have donned their winter-gray coats, and have temporarily lost their wariness as the rut approaches.

 

Winter coat
Winter coat

This month may keep you guessing. Will it be hot or cold, bright or drab, clear or hazy? But perhaps we need those ups and downs, hots and colds, brights and drabs for our bodies – and minds – to adjust from summer to winter. Ah, the joys of October!

 

Motor Mill
Motor Mill

 

 

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