Nature Notes: Changing Season

I am continuing to get excited about each new sign of the changing season because I am ready for summer to end.

It's still warming up to hot by the end of the day but the mornings are pleasant and considerably cooler.

It's interesting to me how the sand bars at Shelley Lake have so few geese, ducks and heron on them this time of year as compared to summer. By winter they will be covered by seagulls and the geese will be more predominant on the hills by the dam.

The pair of geese below cracked me up because they did everything almost in unison.

There are continuing to be more white ducks than I'm used to seeing. I counted five together a few days ago.

Normally this time of year I don't walk on the dirt paths off the paved ones which run alongside the creeks that feed into the lake because they are thick with poison ivy. There are other dirt paths I posted about recently on one or the other of my blogs but the ones in this post are part of the Shelley Lake trails.

I started out planning to turn back if I saw poison ivy and was surprised that something must have been done to eliminate it.

There are some of the side creek trails that I like because they remind me of the mountains.

It is amazing how rustic and natural they are especially since not far away are the paved trails filled with joggers and the whole area is surrounding by subdivisions.

On this side along the dirt trails I don't see any houses and very few people unlike the busy paved paths.

Every time I see trees across the creek I think of my childhood when we would always cross creeks on logs. So many of the trails are filled with bridges which I need at this point in my life but it was fun walking across creeks on natural bridges made by fallen trees when I was younger.

Back at my house I notice how the black form of the eastern tiger swallowtails are replacing the yellow ones. Not sure why but the yellow ones are all over the place in the summer but I rarely see the black ones until late summer into September.

It's also nice to see the bushes in my front yard getting more red leaves and berries forming.

For other nature enthusiasts, please visit the home of nature notes (Thursday is the official post date).