Nature Notes: welcome cool down

Whenever I walk out into my back yard there are a ton of mourning doves in the grasses below.

I wish I could get a shot of the mourning doves as they fly out of the grasses but they are too fast for me so I have to settle for catching them on the deck.

I am enjoying the cool temperatures so much. I love this time of year.

Cottontail rabbits definitely live up to their name. The tail looks exactly like a cotton ball.

I've been catching a lot of shots lately out of my front windows.

I wish the light had been better on the male cardinal above and the rufous-sided towhee below.

The bluejay below was showing off its personality but the lighting was poor.

It is interesting how some of the birds seem to prefer the front bird baths and others prefer to bathe on my deck.

It looks like the bluejay is heading into a spider web below.

The tufted titmouse was watching the bluejay and waiting its turn for the bird bath.

I'm not sure why but I usually don't see the titmouse in the summer.

Mushrooms are continuing to pop up all over my yard.

I wish I knew enough to figure out which are edible.

More trees are starting to show signs of change.

Here and there the virginia creeper are changing colors.

The only thing I don't like about the mushrooms is they are starting to have a noticeable odor.

The mallards love to hang out in this protected part of the lake.

The ones below were so well hidden that the only reason I zoomed in on them was I thought they were red leaves. Then I realized I was seeing the mallard's feet.

The goldenrod is still flowering. I love the way they look draped along the path I walk on.

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