We hustled through our schoolwork in the morning and drove to the Tanglewood Nature Center in Elmira yesterday. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we took the trail up to an overlook over the Chemung River Valley.

We spotted two redtails circling over the river, but by the time I got my camera back out, they were high above us.

We ate our lunch there, and I enjoyed reading about Mark Twain’s thoughts on such an experience, posted nearby:

On the way back down we paused at this lower point, and a juvenile eagle soared past at eye level. No pics — but a grand sight.

Of course there were many beautiful perspectives on the trail. We passed through yellow sections, red sections, and conifer sections. I was partial to the golden yesterday — even though “nothing gold can stay.”

The reds were lovely too.

I commented on these bi-colored yellow/red maple leaves, and the kids proceeded to gather specimens.

There were apple trees, and faded pearl crescent butterflies.

We enjoyed the many fossils seen along the trail, too.

When we got back to the bottom, we rested a bit…

…and saw several bluebirds. They were perching in a walnut tree, then swooping down to hawk insects near the ground. It’s always a treat to see our state bird.

I was surprised to see red-winged blackbirds too, plucking and eating the keys from this tree.

On the whole it was a grand way to drink in the sights and smells of autumn.