And here we are again...in the midst of yet another new season. Fortunately, I adore autumn. It's probably my favorite season of all, and here in the Northeast, it just doesn't get any better. The air is cooler - crisp, even - and, best of all, the scenery is wonderfully colorful. (Contrary to popular opinion, New England - while certainly lovely - does not have the corner on the market for brilliant fall foliage. We here in upstate New York have some of the most spectacular displays of leaves you'll find anywhere in the country...it's magnificent!) Beyond the foliage, our fine, local New York State apples are available in abundance, along with pumpkins and all manner of interesting-looking squashes and gourds. It's just the best time of year here.

It seems that the leaves, like me, are taking their sweet time in changing into their fall wardrobe this year, too. It has been fairly warm in September, and no real hard frost to start the process in earnest, so I think we'll have a longer and more colorful season than last year, when autumn seemed to arrive early and leave fairly quickly. Tonight we'll be entertaining the possibility of some frost, so perhaps that will kick-start the process. We'll see.

Unfortunately, I don't have any readily available shots of autumn color yet, but I will try to take some to post. What I have seen, at dusk, on several occasions, were the local deer friends, who have figured out that the crab apple tree at the edge of the lawn is starting to drop its fruit on the ground...perfect for an evening snack! (Of course, I haven't captured any images of the deer, either, but I saw a doe and older fawn early this morning at the edge of the adjacent field, so they're clearly lingering in the woods adjacent to the lawn.)

Here's one shot I just took (a few days after I uploaded this post) as the sun was setting. (This is the view from my kitchen window, facing east.)


Wish I could say the rest of the landscape is as brilliant as this, but it's just not that vibrant in many areas...too much rain this summer, no early frost followed by more warmth to bring up the colors, so the colors are a little on the mundane side, I'm afraid.

When I pulled into the driveway a few days ago after being out for the day, I encountered a veritable gaggle of wild turkeys strutting through the yard. I hadn't seen them in many months, but am very glad they're about, and expect to see them again as the season evolves.

Hoping your autumn is as lovely as mine in the Northeast!

Lurking Turkeys and Other Fauna of the Forest

It's been a bit of a wildlife wonderland out here in the country. Clearly, the fauna of the forest are starting to realize that Spring is upon us (thankfully) and they've been making their presence known.

Within the past 10 days, a flock of wild turkeys appeared one day - maybe two dozen of them - and thought the seed scattered on the ground around the two bird feeders was the perfect midday snack! The kitties thought they were HUGE! (They are.)

They first arrived when we were still totally snow covered, but it has been warming up gradually and the snows have started to recede. It's just here and there now, but the shot below was taken a few days ago, when the gang came out to see the latest items on the lawn menu. This represents only about half of the birds...they were all around. Fun to see and watch.

Here's another shot under the hanging feeder just outside the window taken a week or so ago.

Of course, no sooner had the turkeys returned to the "house on the hill" (as I call my country abode), I spied a red fox - yes, a red fox - in the yard one evening after sundown. Clever thing. I'm sure where the turkeys go, the fox is sure to follow. S/he returned twice more - the next night and a day or two later, always after dark. (I did a quick kitty head count each time, just to be safe!) I tried to get a photo, of course, but, alas, it was too dark.

Several days later, two raccoons also were checking out the leftovers around the bird feeder after dark one night. On another evening, a scruffy-looking opossum was perusing the offerings. The word obviously is out in the local animal kingdom that there's an all-night buffet up here on the hill!

Spring is coming!