Highlights

September 2020 - Autumn, Labor Day Bike Ride, Fall Color

Info Alert - Autumn 

Many of us think the best New England season is autumn. Meteorological autumn begins September 1. Astronomical autumn, when the southerly heading sun crosses the equator and day and night are equal in length, known as the Autumnal Equinox, happens this year on Tuesday, September 22. 

What a wonderful time of the year to explore our New England natural environment! Early fall weather brings cooler temperatures, less humidity and a bright blue sky when the sun is out. Many of our summer birds, fish and some of our insects are migrating south; woodchucks, bears, raccoons and chipmunks are pigging-out in anticipation of a calorie-scarce winter; crickets and katydids and their friends are singing the last of their summer songs; pumpkins, grapes, winter squash, cranberries and apples are ripening and asters, goldenrods and other fall wildflowers are blooming.

Although peak leaf color is a month away ...usually in our neck of the woods around October 15 through October 22 ...red maple, blueberry and tupelo, especially in wetlands, are starting to turn red, orange and yellow. Life is good. Take a hike. Don't forget to bring along insect repellent containing DEET or Picaridin. Windy fall days may keep mosquitoes grounded and after the first October frost they should be gone until next April/May. 
 

 
October color!


White asters.


Red squirrel.


Hen of the Woods mushroom.


New England asters.


Marbled salamander.


Amanita muscaria mushrooms.


A rainy day in autumn.


A red maple leaf.

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Sunset Bike Ride

Three riders attended the sunset ride on the Friday evening of Labor Day weekend. It was a perfect evening for a ride! When we reached Colt State Park we found a long line of cars entering to view the sunset. The weather was excellent: mild temperatures and a cloudless sky. After the sunset, we headed towards Providence. The evening air was cooler and made for a very comfortable ride.

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INFO ALERT - YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS IT 

In our neck of the woods, here in New England, the most colorful natural event of the year is starting right now ...and it is free! Wow!!! Are we fortunate...or what?


Fall foliage color peaks in New England between the last week in September and the third week in October. Here in southeastern Massachusetts peak color is usually between October 15 and October 25. We shall soon see if the drought we experienced this past summer mutes this year's Autumn Leaf Fall Speculator. Even if that should happen, Mother Nature always has other colorful local natural stuff to show us ...if we take the time to search, find and observe.


October colors North Watuppa Pond

 


COVID-19 cancelled our annual mushroom walk this year. Hopefully that always popular walk will be back next year. Here a chicken mushroom, Laetiporus sulphureus, is helping add color to the fall forest. 


Appropriately colored for fall foraging, a juvenile box turtle searches the forest floor for a fungi meal as it prepares for winter hibernation.



Photo - USFWS -Brett Billings
Monarch butterflies are fueling up on goldenrod nectar in preparation for their long and hazardous journey to Mexico. What an amazing natural wonder. The beginning of October is the perfect time to see them spiral into the air, catch the wind and set off to spend the winter in the volcanic mountains of central Mexico. Two local monarch jumping-off points are Gooseberry Island, Westport, MA. and Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge, Middletown, RI. 


Walking in the woods? Be careful and don't step on a woolly bear. The woolly bears are great winter weather prognosticators. When not busy prognosticating they search for a secure location on the forest floor where they can spend the winter and emerge next summer as beautiful Isabella moths.


Photo - USFWS -Maslowski
Another very colorful local resident is the wood duck. When walking a wooded trail, always a delight to find one or more paddling around a woodland pool as autumn leaves swirl about, or floating down a brook along with red maple and yellow birch leaves.

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