Nature Notes: End of October and November Begins

I've been watching out for the bittersweet berries to start a bursting and have been rewarded. They cover my deck wall and I enjoy them this time of year.

The weather has started getting much cooler and we had our first frost at the end of October, but I didn't get out early enough to photograph it.

The oak trees in my front yard are finally starting to have some red mixing in with the green (shot above).

I'm not sure what kind of tree the one above is in my neighbor's yard, but it's another with a mix of fall leaves and green ones that haven't changed.

When I first glanced out my living room window I thought the male cardinal was a red leaf until I zoomed in. He blended well with the dogwood leaves from a distance. That dogwood is a volunteer which is starting to get established. I have mature dogwoods too but it's fun to watch volunteers trying to find their way.

I am finally starting to get some shots of birds in flight with my new camera. I'm not sure what kind of bird the one in the next shot is.

It has taken me a while to get the hang of photographing birds in flight because the zoom is so much more powerful on my new camera . I zoom in too much and lose the bird before I snap the picture.

I didn't get a very clear shot of the great blue heron above but I'll keep practicing. The next shot is the same bird but it had landed and was waiting for a fish.

It had rained the day before I took the next shot and the creek that feeds into the lake was gurgling and making a pleasant sound which reminded me to look over and photograph it.

I love the way fall leaves look as streams of color reflected in the lake.

I enjoy the subtle mix of colors and am surprised, each time I go on a walk, by the changes occurring daily.

It's interesting to me how the cormorants appear at the lake in the fall and then seem to disappear in the spring. The only place I ever see them is on the pilings.

The cormorant below held that posture for a long time. Seemed odd the way it was poised with its wings partly open.

The goldenrod flowers below have gone to seed.

I keep waiting for the sandbars (seen in shot below) to be filled with the gulls who usually appear shortly before winter. I always wonder why the sandbars are so popular with the gulls in the winter even when the lake freezes but the geese and ducks move to the banks on the other side when it gets cold. I don't see anything like as many geese in the winter but that's the only time I see gulls at the lake.

I guess I'll end with one last shot for this week's nature notes. All of these were taken over the past 6 days but aren't in any particular order.

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