Cottonwoods and Milkweed

Today we went on a long walk to see signs of fall. It was a beautiful, sunny, and crisp fall day that eventually became overcast and cloudy. Our walk was a success, though, because we saw a beaver swimming, meadowlarks (I love meadowlarks!), a garter snake, milkweed pods and seeds spilling out, and fall color in the sumacs and cottonwoods. I love how this tree seems to be changing from the bottom up:

We stood under a cottonwood for a while, looking at the leaves. The yellow is not as intense as the yellow of aspen leaves, but the cottonwoods also make a rustling sound. It is a peaceful, awe-inspiring thing to listen to trees in the wind. It is good to stop once in a while, and listen.

Trees have always been a source of joy for me. I felt lost without them when we lived in the desert.

The showy milkweed seeds were spilling out everywhere. It looks very different from the last picture of them that I posted!

The fluffy seeds were caught on the grasses everywhere I looked. And the grasses were beautiful. The grama was a purplish color, and the foxtail was a lovely raw sienna. I am still learning the grasses here! There are so many unfamiliar ones.

The goldenrods are finished flowering, and beginning to dry. Asters, mostly white ones, were everywhere. And there is something tall with yellow flowers in the highway ditches, but I have not been able to find any yet on a side road to pull over and investigate.

There were ducks out on the water, but I was not close enough to identify them.

Sunrise

A couple of days ago, I was treated to this beautiful sunrise.

 It is warm again. Today's high is supposed to be 80 degrees, but it feels much warmer.

Summer's Close

We took a brief walk on a local trail to soak in the last of summer.

The only sounds were the insects: cicadas and grasshoppers. I didn't hear any birds.

I noted fat milkweed pods ripening. One had dried and split open, spilling fluffy seeds out. One was full of red and black milkweed bugs.

Some grasses were drying, and turning a beautiful shade of umber. And the Asters have appeared. These have always been harbingers of fall for me.

Sunflowers were still flowering, but I saw many seedheads.

Just a few more days until the official start of fall!!!

A chill in the air

How can it be the middle of September already? Somehow, August slipped by.

We have been very cool- the lows last week were not record-breaking, but low enough to cause my basil to break out in black, unhappy spots. The birds are now few and far between in the yard. Gone are the mixed-species flocks that fought over the small birdbath. It is very quiet now, except for the insistent calling of a blue jay.

And it is chilly. Layering a sweater or jacket is now a must. There is the smell of fall in the air: crispness and peat-scented humus. Fall has always been my favorite season.

The grass is still green, but some trees are showing a speck of color in the leaves. I am looking forward to the fall colors, especially in the maples.

Birds

Yesterday, I went outside to do a few sketches of the nuthatches. I ended up with seven pages of bird sketches in my sketchbook. It was a cool, but sunny day, and the birds were very active. I had to refill the birdbath twice, because it was in constant use.

Many of the sketches show preening behaviors. I love the way birds open out their wings to preen. The angles their wings and heads make, in relation to their legs, are just beautiful. This is something that seems to come out better in my sketches than in finished paintings. The behavior is so transient, and it is something you can recognize in a sketch, but it somehow, to me, seems too temporary a pose for a painting. Time spent sketching is never wasted time, though, because it all becomes visual knowledge that informs later paintings.  But I suspect I may end up doing a painting someday of the preening baby robins that visited yesterday. Five of them were jockeying for position at the birdbath.

Cool Weather

Fifty degrees? In July? How wonderful!

A cold front has pushed through, and brought unseasonably cool temperatures. I could get used to this, but I am sure it will not last. What a beautiful morning.

Barred Owls, Bunnies, and Mosquitoes...

The mosquitoes have been fierce. Southern girl that I am, I was convinced that there must be a pool of standing water somewhere. The local paper, though, ran a story last weekend that said this particular type hatches out of the ground after flooding rains. Interesting, but annoying.

There are little Eastern Cottontail rabbits everywhere. I have never seen so many before! My mom pointed out that there must be a lack of predators, and I think she is right. In Tennessee, we heard coyotes howling at night, saw hawks sitting on fences and trees by day, and had lots and lots of big snakes. Other than the year the rabbits tried to make a warren under one of my giant rosebushes, I saw very few of them. Here, they are everywhere.

We saw a very large garter snake when we first moved in, but I have not seen it again. And I saw a Great Horned Owl mobbed by smaller birds last month.

Last night, though, we heard a Barred Owl. The voice was a bit different than we are used to hearing in Tennessee. And there was no reply, that we could hear. I still remember the wild chorus we heard one night in the Smoky Mountains, with Barred Owls calling back and forth over our tent.

So, to update the checklist:

Barred Owl (voice only), and
Downy Woodpecker

I love the cooler weather we are having. What a relief. I wish it would discourage the mosquitoes, though!