Autumn On The Rutland Trail - Part 1

We had a beautiful autumn day and I needed to get out in nature, so I took the dogs to a section of the Rutland Trail, a former railroad bed which traverses a stretch of wetlands. Need I add that the dogs were ecstatic?

Indeed, they ran so fast and far that I had to do more hollering. I am glad to say that they soon calmed down and became pleasant company:

The Rutland Trail is hard packed gravel, straight and level - just right for an old codger with leg braces and just right for dogs who love to run:

The first body of water lay to our left, a lovely, peaceful scene where I often record Spring Peepers - in season, of course:

The autumn colors were muted but lovely, and the day was comfortably warm for October:

The big pond on our left was bordered by grasses, cattails and dead Queen Anne's Lace plants. On the right was a sort of overgrown canal but the sun was too bright for me to get a photo of anything on the right:

 I kept seeing these distinctive oak leaves, so I looked them up when I got home and decided that they were Bur Oak. I wish I'd have found some acorns to confirm that I.D. but I think I'm right:

And then a gentle, red dragonfly landed on my hand. It held still while I tried to maneuver the camera with my left hand so I could get a photo:

 Here's a closeup. I looked it up when I got home and decided it was a Red Skimmer Dragonfly in the genus Sympetrum, but there were too many species for me to narrow it down any more:

 A Woolly Bear, whose adult stage is the Isabella Tiger Moth

I was stopped in my tracks by these leaves, the most brilliant purple leaves I'd ever seen. They were the common Bittersweet Nightshade, and the plant's red berries added to the color:

Jack, Clover and Daphne may be small in size, but they are bold, determined hikers. We were just getting started on our hike, though, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: