Final Days of Summer
Sugar Maple - Bear Mountain
We are in the final days of the summer season…a period of extreme heat and more than normal rainfall this year. Some say that those conditions will lead to a better than normal fall foliage year. We can only conjecture until the leaves begin their metamorphosis into the brilliant colors of autumn. So far, there is ONE leaf that I’ve been able to find at our hawkwatch site on Bear Mountain. A large Sugar Maple affords us some shade up at our viewing station and at the very top of that tree, a lone branch has begun to change. The days are still quite warm with temps in the 80s, but the evenings are getting cooler….signs of things to come.
Wild Turkeys - Firefighters Way - 9/26
Wild turkeys in our area in fall present a striking blend of ritual and resilience as males fan their iridescent tails and puff their bodies to court hens amid rust-colored leaves and golden light. Feeding heavily on acorns, beech nuts, berries, and leftover agricultural grain, flocks fatten for the colder months while relying on mixed hardwood forests, brushy edges, and field margins for cover. Fall weather also drives increased movement and flocking behavior, making this season one of the best for photographers to watch natural social interactions, plumage displays, and foraging strategies before winter sets in.
As mentioned in an earlier post, the adult Spotted lanternflies are beginning to make their presence known and with them, a species of Praying mantis known as the Chinese mantis is being seen more commonly locally. This mantis is one of the predators of those lanternflies. This individual was found clinging to our back door. I enticed him to crawl onto this tomato vine and moved him gently to the back picnic table for a portrait. Over an hour later, he was still standing in the exact same location, perhaps waiting for some unexpeccting pray to wander by.
Chinese mantis - Backyard - 9/14/26
We are now getting into serious hawk watching time. The third week in September, specifically the period around September 17 - 20, is well known to those of us who look forward to hawk migration each year as the time to train our eyes t0 the skies in search of the first major raptor migrating hawks, the Broadwings. Let’s see what the beginning of Autumn brings.
