Pigeons, Chickens And Autumn Color

I let the pigeons out one cool, autumn day and about eight of them took advantage of the freedom which I offered. They seemed to have a grand time but stayed on the ground so much that I began to worry about foxes. I got all of them up off the ground except for the one on the tire (looks like a white blob in the picture). I had to lift that bird up and toss it back indoors through the window. It could fly, but just didn't feel like it. None of these fantails are good fliers like their non-fantail relatives:

And that same day I let the chickens out, only the second time since I admitted my defeat in the war with the wild foxes. But it was time to clean out the chickens' room:

The bantam hens were happy to have some freedom and walked around, clucking and scratching - which got Jack all excited on the other side of the fence. The hens also lay down on their sides in the sun and enjoyed themselves. Once I'd cleaned out their room, though, I herded them back inside and secured their door against predators:

Our autumn colors have been disappointing this year, but I did find a few bursts of color. These trees were on my own road, just a bit north of my house:

And a little farther north on the other side of the road, a considerable cluster of crimson. The trees were behind a hay field and the cattails which lined the road:

More muted colors on my own road:

I turned onto the highway because I was heading for the village of Massena. That's where I found these colorful trees:

Heading north on Route 420, I stopped to photograph this colorful cluster which edged a cattail marsh:

More color along Route 420, just south of the little settlement of Winthrop:

I had to pull to the side of the road and stop on the bridge over the St. Regis River to get this shot - and then I hurried along because there was no shoulder on the bridge:

As I headed north toward Massena, I knew I'd find this color at the intersection of State Route 420 and County Route 49. These trees are reliable color every year:

Just south of Massena, I stopped at a logging header which last year had magnificent color. It was more muted this year, but still attractive. There is an old concrete silo there also, but it is always impossible to work it into the picture. Maybe some year I'll figure out how to get both the silo and the trees into one photograph: