Fall is in the air (sometimes)

The fall equinox is just a few days away, and I can feel it in the air (at least on those days when it stays in the low 80s or below). The nights are mostly cooler, and the days are shorter. The persimmons are ripening (I knocked a ripe one off a few days ago and ate it.), and some of the trees and vines, such as these dogwoods and Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), are beginning to show color. The Goldenrod (Solidago), Wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia), and Crownbeard (Verbesina occidentalis) are painting the roadsides yellow, while Tall Thistle (Cirsium altissimum) and other thistles, Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis), and the occasional Heal-All (Prunella vulgaris) add lavenders and purples to the landscape. It’s a colorful time of year to ramble!

We’ve had rain since my last post, as you can see in the photo comparison below. You can also see how the foliage is beginning to change.

The bees are busy. The honeybees seem attracted to the wingstem, and all the local species of bumblebees love the thistle. I see them buried in it every time I walk! This White-banded Crab Spider (Misumenoides formosipes) in the meadow like to hang out on the thistle, too, and it’s ready to grab a meal!

Butterflies and hummingbirds are migrating, and their numbers are dwindling in the Hollow. I especially like seeing the Monarchs, and I’m glad that milkweed grows in the Hollow to provide for their caterpillars. Other caterpillars eat the milkweed, too, including this Milkweed Tussock Moth (Euchaetes egle).

The little herd of deer I feed has five surviving fawns. Two of them are still small and spotted, another has hardly any spots left, and the spots on the other two are quickly fading. A couple of them have decided that they like apple pieces, and the smallest one gets closer each day.

The adult deer are changing, too. The little bucks are filling out and shedding their summer coats. Most of them have scraped the velvet off their antlers, although Flopsy still had his when I fed this afternoon. The shedding is a natural process, but it’s a bloody one. I am always a bit surprised to see how pointy the bare antlers are, and sometimes I have to look closely to recognize who’s sporting the “new” rack.

The forecast calls for temperatures in the low 40s later this week, so maybe there’ll be more colorful foliage in the next post. Meanwhile, look for the Ironweed in today’s photo of Dark Hollow.