Walks
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What hawks see
These redtails are all over the place in the winter. I’m not sure if it’s just that they’re easier to see when the leaves are down, or if they come out of the deeper woods in winter as I’ve read.
I’ve wondered before: what makes them choose a given perch? Do they see evidence of mice, and simply wait for an opportunity? Or is it more random?
Today on a walk in the park I saw what looked like veins under the snow: mouse tunnels become visible as the upper layer of snow melts? That’s my guess.
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November Light
We took a windy walk today. Most of the leaves were down, and the wind blew them up into numerous eddies. I wish I could capture wind and whirling leaves in photos, but…
The other factor was the light. I love the brightness of November sun, and it was truly squintworthy today.
The only leaves left are a few brown and red oak leaves, and these golden leaves.
At one point, I stepped off the trail to photograph an evergreen grove — and discovered a deer.
She saw us but kept foraging, close to the ground. Then, she decided to lie down for a midafternoon nap.
Hope she stays in the preserve for deer season. We said goodbye… then I took my tree picture.
We didn’t see many animals, but we had the woods to ourselves and enjoyed the unsettled feeling of the tossing trees and the sound of wind.
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Stairway
Our run of lovely weather seems to have ended for now. It was overcast today, and rain is in the forecast. But yesterday was a different story.
We entered a favorite trail by the boardwalk helpfully marked with a white stripe — but the leaves nearly obscured it altogether.
We walked to the bottom of what’s usually a small waterfall, but it’s been so dry we were able to do something we’ve never done before: we climbed the falls like stairs.
The stream bed made a nice trail and provided lots of opportunity to admire the leaves and reflections.
Acorns and other nuts were falling, and the chipmunks were scurrying everywhere on the steep banks gathering them. They blend in well with the leaves, but once in awhile one held still long enough for a picture.
Other than that, we didn’t see any wildlife, other than a few warblers up too high to identify. I consoled myself as we walked along this stretch of trail by remembering all the animals I’d seen here before…
…brown creepers in early spring, yellow-rumped warblers in fall, black and white warblers and oven birds in summer, deer, salamanders, even a tiny fawn just off to the left a few years ago. It was a joy to have these memories return as we walked the familiar path.
The trail ends at a meadow with a nice view of distant hills.
We weren’t the only ones enjoying the day. There were other people in the woods, all of us with the same idea of how best to appreciate October’s bright blue weather.
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Sunday stroll
The leaves are nowhere near their peak, but that’s not to say there isn’t plenty of fall color. The light has that special fall look, too — somehow brighter and more merciless. I’m not sure why that word comes to mind, but it does.
It makes for more brilliant reflections on water, where it’s hard to tell where the real ends and the reflection begins.
We enjoyed a sunbathed walk yesterday along paths that invited reflection of a different kind.
It’s always amazing to me when the eye falls on something as tiny as this toad among the heights and colors of the forest.
So many places for little things to hide….
…and the animals are taking on their winter colors. This young deer blended in so well it didn’t even bother to run away.
We walked a little further and met another. They were both from this spring’s batch of fawns, I’m guessing, and they were very unwary.
This one walked up to us, curious and utterly innocent.
It came within 8 feet to check us out.
Finally it figured out that we weren’t familiar or promising, and bounded away down the trail.
I’ve never been approached that closely by a deer before. Hopefully this youngster wouldn’t be so slow to react to a coyote!
It was a lovely day for a walk, and this encounter was definitely a highlight.
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The falls in fall
Most of these are photos of familiar scenes. Because I’ve already taken lots of pictures here, I played with photo effects to frame the scenes or give them an added interest.
Not that this natural setting needs help… It’s a place of endless interest to me.
So many interesting curves and staircases…
…and so many interesting waterworks.
Even the puddles are interesting.
Everyone with me found it exhilarating as usual — human and non-human alike.
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Adirondack Album
We visited the Adirondacks in July. Here is just a sampling of the beauties we enjoyed.
Bog 
Distant haze 
White-throated sparrow 
Mystery trail 
Hidden art 
Broad-winged hawk 
Maze 
Roadside frill 
Crowded hilltop 
Mountaintop view -
Spring and fall
It was in the 40’s this morning, and before the fog had cleared, I went for a walk.
It was pretty quiet, and I’d reconciled myself to the likelihood that I wouldn’t see much bird or wildlife activity. But when I reached my favorite hedgerow in the upper meadow, a yellow warbler greeted me.
There was lots of activity there — so much that it was difficult choosing what to focus on, and what to ignore. A catbird got busy tattling on me — “Awake! Fire! Foes! Awake!”
There were several yellowthroats, some of them females and some of them, I think, juveniles. They tried hard to be quiet, but the scolding and rustling weren’t hard to follow.
A blackburnian warbler flitted high up in the treetops. There was a young oriole, too, and a pileated woodpecker I heard but didn’t see. But closer to me were the calls of towhees, and I was tickled to see not one, but two, juveniles.
They seemed as curious about me as I was about them.
Another large, reddish bird scolded me with authority from the bushes, and I wondered if, with its speckled breast and rich cinnamon color, it was a wood thrush. I never did get a great picture, but this one made it clear what kind of bird it was.
A juvenile brown thrasher! Its long tail and yellow eye identified it as a younger version of one of my favorite birds.
This sparrow (I’m not sure what variety — perhaps a song sparrow) looks rumpled like a juvie, but with its beakfull of goodies it may be a mother supplementing her offspring’s diet.
I’d been out for nearly two hours and needed to be getting home, so I started the long walk back to the car, determined not to linger. Head down, walking quickly, I was startled by the sound of thrashing just ahead. It was a doe and two fawns. So that’s the picture I missed — but I have the memory. They melted away into the brush.
It was cool, like the fall, and in fact the fall is near at hand. But the leaves haven’t turned yet, and with all the youngsters I saw it seemed more like spring than fall.
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Mystical Wood
Normally, I don’t take walks in the evening. I was glad my husband was with me on this one, because the woods had a certain ancient, waiting feeling about them — like the forests you encounter in books like those of Tolkien or Susanna Clarke. The only birds singing were hermit thrushes. They seemed to be stationed at intervals along the way, just frequently enough that one was always sending out its silvery, solitary song.
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Odds and Ends
These two are photos of a veery — more often heard than seen!
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Gorgeous Glen
Despite the many excellent reasons that exist to leave New York State, during the few months when the sun shines it’s hard to beat for its beauty and variety.
Today my younger daughter and I walked in one of our favorite places and saw all manner of wildflowers, heard many birds, and were chased by skippers and yellow swallowtails who managed to escape my efforts to photograph them every time.
Pulling into the parking area, we were greeted by several indigo buntings who proceeded to vanish into the trees, taunting us with their songs but refusing to show themselves. A redtail sailed over a field across the road, and as we started down the trail, another one sailed over the treetops above us as a young hawk called from the woods.
The flowers were friendlier. They couldn’t fly away, and we feasted on the color and diversity.
First came wild geranium.
I’m not sure, but after consulting our wildflower book, I think these are lance-leaved goldenrod.
Some of the trail was lined with phlox…
…and other segments with bird’s-eye speedwell.
I’m not sure what these are.
That’s just a sample. As we turned into deeper woods descending to the stream, I saw a new-to-me red flower — moccasin flower.
Other than that, it was a mixed-tree forest, some of the trees very large.
We crossed the creek near a small waterfall.
It was tempting to keep looking back as we walked down the streambed, because the waterfall seemed to grow.
…and grow.
But looking ahead gave us plenty of visual feasting as well, from mossy and enchanted banks…
…to picturesque trails…
…to rocks crawling with greenery of all kinds…
…to unwary chipmunks.
When we reached our destination — a stone bridge left over from some long-ago inhabitant — the water level was low enough to allow us into the stream. We’d never been there before — only on the bridge, looking down at the tumbling falls.
There was a winter wren singing almost directly overhead, but I never did get my eye on him. I’ve only ever seen winter wrens in pictures. It would be neat to see one, even though they are fairly ordinary looking little brown birds. Their real charm is their intricate, silvery song, and we got to hear it the whole time we lingered there.
On the way out, we saw still more flowers… forget-me-nots in blue and pink,
honeysuckle and Japanese honeysuckle,
and seed galls of some kind. We weren’t sure what this was, but we christened it the green-eyed monster gall.
I’m not sure what these tiny white flowers are either. I couldn’t find them in our guide.
It’s not a bad thing to be reminded that there are all kinds of things underfoot and overhead that I rarely notice and can’t identify… There is an excess of beauty in the world. Who would ever know it simply by reading the headlines?
All in all it was a pretty great way to spend a Saturday morning!
