October Visions of Nature

This morning sailors might be advised to take warning

The incredible American Beech

More Beech leaves

This Yellow Birch bark looks like it's made from gold leaf

The Birch grew over a stump which has now mostly disintegrated

More Yellow Birch root gymnastics 

Tulip Tree leaf with its complicated vein tributary system revealed

The ground of a reforestation field is littered with a diverse selection of leaves

Cattails create interesting natural soft sculptures 

The intricate paper nest of the Bald-faced Horned - vacant now

Morning light filtering through a young Sugar Maple forest

Some Porcupine quills stuck into an old grape vine

This Silverberry bush produced an incredible amount of berries

The grasses start to turn in the meadow

More early morning sky patterns

Moss from Shawangunk Nature Preserve in Cold Brook

Wintergreen lurks in a bed of moss at Shawangunk

Marsh St Johnswort produces its fruit 

Mid-October Observations in Nature

Dreamy Wood-nymph Moth Caterpillar feeds on Hairy Willowherb

There are still a lot of things happening in our woods and other habitats in October. I've been finding quite a few caterpillars. Probably one of my favorites is the Dreamy Wood-nymph Moth caterpillar. Its black and orange striped pattern is bold and so they are pretty easy to pick out as they feed on Willowherb plants near the stream sides. Interestingly, the moth that they become is not nearly so easy to find. They are camouflaged to look like bird-droppings (they are bird-droppings mimics). This is the species' ingenious way of not being eaten by birds.

Quaking Aspen leaves

Right now much of the color in the woods is provided by American Beech Trees

A carpet of freshly fallen leaves around the base of a Sugar Maple Tree

A very bleached out Narrow-leaf Spleenwort fern

A White-tailed Deer spent the night here

One of several Winter Wrens skulking about in the gorge

They always stay close to the ground and are rarely found far from water

Palm Warblers are one of the last of their clan to migrate through the region

Black-throated Green Warbler - most have already come through

Kinglet migration is in full swing right now - This is a Ruby-crowned Kinglet playing hide-and-seek in a buckthorn tree

You can just make out the ruby crown on the top of this kinglet's head

Nashville Warbler - It had just been feeding on the aphids that cover this goldenrod stem

White-throated Sparrow migration is also in high gear - dozens and dozens of them can be seen with little effort

This female Rufous-sided Towhee will probably be departing for the south soon

Our most numerous migrant warbler is the Yellow-rumped Warbler - AKA the Myrtle Warbler

There are still a few Lincoln's Sparrows to be found around the forest edges and in brushy meadows

Long after blooming, now gone to seed, Pearly Everlasting still  remains a focal-point in the meadow

The leaves and stems of Tall Coreopsis turn a light red-ish color

A Northern Harrier and a Crow Spar over the Beaver Pond

A female Northern Harrier coming in low near the beaver pond

There has been some interesting activity around the beaver ponds lately and this time it doesn't involve the beavers. The action was provoked by the presence of a female Northern Harrier. The Harrier is just one of several species of raptor that have been stopping by the nature preserve as they migrate south. This particular bird was hunting at one of the beaver dams. Hunting there can be pretty lucrative since small rodents live in and travel through the many nooks and crannies in the dam's structure. This Harrier is not the first raptor to notice the dam's potential. This time, however, it looked like a family of resident crows didn't appreciate the Harrier's interest, but their interaction with her hardly seemed very serious. It was more like the kind of sparring seen between sibling hawks. In other words, it was more like play.

The Harrier makes a commotion over the beaver dam

The harrier's attention is fixed on detecting the slightest movement on the ground

Hearing is enhanced by a facial disk - outlined by a light ring of feathers around the face

Coming back in to the beaver dam

Stirring up some mayhem with one of the crows

That got her attention

The Harrier is a bit larger than the crow, but is able to match some of its maneuverability

The course of the pursuit changes direction frequently

The Harrier is deliberately laying back - obviously the intent is not to catch or even to strike the crow

These 2 birds are just in it for the fun

The crow pulls in its wings and goes into a dive - the Harrier puts on the air brakes

The crow plummets, but the Harrier stays on target

Closing the gab quickly this time

The crow inverts and begins to peruse the Harrier

This time the Harrier begins to go into a dive 

Not to be outdone by the crow, the Harrier executes a complete inversion 

The crow is back in pursuit - the Harrier lays back and allows her to catch up

The crow does a dive complete with a back flip

The Harrier returns to hunting 

The white patch at the base of the Harrier's tail is an excellent field mark

Taking a needed rest after a long play session