What a beautiful season!

Fall has arrived and painted the trees in the Hollow in stunning colors. The golden hickories almost glow; the scarlet sourwoods continue to stand out, and the maples—Oh, the maples!—surprise and delight me with their variety of colors. The oak leaves are mostly green and brown, but some have begun to show some red and yellow, too.

It’s a treat simply to step out of the house and look down the driveway!

You can see changes across the river, too. (It’s rained some since my last post, as you can see below.)

Most of the late summer blossoms have disappeared, but many asters and some goldenrods are still blooming. I’m still occasionally surprised to spot a summer flower, like an Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare), a Common Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris), or a Common Evening-Primrose (Oenothera biennis).

Lately I’ve been spotting deer on my walks (and they’ve been spotting me). They may be at the salt lick I put out across the creek, standing or resting in the woods, or eating forbs, grasses, and acorns near the road. I see Flopsy so often that I wonder if he follows me! 🙂 It can be a challenge to spot them in a still photo, but you’re welcome to try!

Meanwhile, the young bucks have become the bosses at feeding time, and the does usually run from them. Friendly often shares the pan with one of the fawns; I suspect they are related. Although Friendly is probably the largest, Muley and Curly, who have the largest antlers, seem to be the most aggressive (and the most afraid of me). I have seen one larger buck (not Mr. Majestic), but he ran when he saw me. The young bucks antler-wrestle already; they’ll probably be run off when the older bucks start hanging around. The meadow will soon be the scene of lots of action!

It’s been raining off-and-on for the last two days. Next weekend will bring the end of Daylight Saving Time and almost certainly the first freeze (maybe snow!); things may look different when I post again!