Good morning to everyone! There is a definite autumn chill in the air this morning with a temp of 50F (10C), but the sun is shining brilliantly in a beautifully bright blue sky. But even the sunshine has the look of autumn. It is now so low in the sky that most of the day it stays behind the trees and shining with only dappled sunlight into my apartment.

Yes, there are different ways of interpreting autumn and all its wonderful glory. The colors begin to show, even in our backyard on the hill, plants are turning from their deep and bright greens of summer to the richness of yellows, golds and oranges. And yes, brown as well is present as the plants end their growing season and go dormant for the winter.

Most of our summer birds have begun their southward journey now, only a few remain waiting for the weather to cool off just a little more before they too will head south for the winter. This was so noticeable on my last walk to the river. A week earlier the trees were alive with birds along the whole path from beginning right down to the river.

This last time it was all quiet. At the river I did hear just a few chickadees and one nuthatch, plus there was a family of white-throated sparrows looking for seeds along the shore of the river. They flew off a little further away when I came walking past. A Belted Kingfisher came flying by at one point, just above the water, and he kept on going until he was out of sight.

I guess he was looking for a better spot to fish. I do not see very many kingfishers at the river, usually just one each summer. I used to see them a lot at the smaller lakes in the area when I used to visit those lakes years ago. But mostly the walk and time at the river itself was very quiet indeed.

Only the sound of the rushing water could be heard. So different from summer when birds can be seen and heard everywhere. The summer season is definitely short, but so very beautiful that one forgets all about the long winters. But now winter is not far off. Just 4 years ago winter arrived on October 9, 2018 with a large snowfall that stayed with us until the end of April.

That is only a month away. However, the end of October is more normal for the snow to arrive. That is a long time yet. But first we have the wonderful beauty of autumn to enjoy. That is solitude. Thank you so much for reading today, have a most wonderful weekend everyone and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2022 Steve McLeod.