“I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."
― Nathaniel Hawthorne
Summer's final Hurrah!
As October progresses the landscape continues to undergo its beautiful seasonal color recast ― so far it's been exceptional and the fall wildflowers have apexed as well. Though many trees are still holding various shades of green, the yellow and red highlights are stunning. From my apartment window I can see our courtyard maples have brilliant oranges and reds, and a tree line to my west looks like it was painted with a perfect autumnal brushstrokes.
Pheasant Branch Prairie
I've been sort of busy, but time was spent last weekend in search of fall migratory sparrows. Though I seldom visit it these days, I went to the prairie parcel of Pheasant Branch. The trail system has been redesigned and reduced to keep the muggles from disturbing sensitive habitat and critters. I was still able to find the majority of expected sparrow species: Song, Lincoln's, Swamp, Field, White-crowned, White-throated, Fox, and Eastern Towhee. Warblers included Yellow-rumped, Palm, Orange-crowned, and Common Yellowthroat. Other avian species included Sedge Wren, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, Gray Catbird, American Robin, Eastern Bluebird, and more.
Here are some new sparrow portraits ...
Song Sparrow
Handsome little critter, no?
Field Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
I do miss photographing tiger beetles and hitting the sand, but I've resigned myself to other pursuits during the fall. It has been warm enough that some beetles might still emerge, but I'm fine with leaving it until next spring. In a future post perhaps I'll run through my best portraits of the season.
At the Oak Savanna
For the final stage of my sparrow excursion, I returned to Shoveler's Sink with Dottie Johnson. This time luck was on our side ― we found a single Nelson's Sparrow and LeConte's Sparrow. I don't really have the early morning time to put in for a legit Harris's Sparrow search, but I may nose around a few places this coming weekend to find one ... or two!
LeConte's Sparrow
There was a full Moon on October 1st. Doesn't it seem like every full Moon has new media-spawned superlatives to get you outside to go and look at it? I've been photographing the moon for over a quarter of a century ― yes, you can observe and photograph its shapes, shadows, and colors, but none of these things really have anything to do with the moon itself. Phases are about position relative to Earth and its reflected light color has more to do with our atmosphere or if there's a lunar eclipse. Blue moons are not blue and most every rising or setting moon appears orange. Apogee and perigee are the names of the apsides for the Moon, which play a role in how large its disc appears in the sky, which is nearly indistinguishable full moon-to-full moon to human perception. For me, the ordinary Moon is always amazing and I believe we're fairly fortunate to have a celestial body close enough to see with exceptional detail.
Our beautiful Moon!
All images © 2020 Mike McDowell