Pre-Halloween Visions Around The Farm

We had our first hard freeze in October, requiring me to break the ice on the stock tank with the handle of a flat shovel. I had to use the handle because the blade was covered with dried manure:

We also had our first snow one night. It didn't pile up, but it lasted most of the next day:

I noticed, as I have in past years, that some of the autumn leaves of Bittersweet Nightshade turn a beautiful purple color:


Combined with its red berries, Bittersweet Nightshade is a lovely plant:


 The pigeons continued to get a screen in their window during the days, but I closed the window during the nights:

The little hens don't seem to care about the cold. They just wish they could go outside. Of course they have no concept of roving, ravenous, chicken eating foxes:

I'm often outside, doing chores, just as the sun breaks above the trees in the morning:

And there's a new vision each morning. This photo was taken about the same time but the next day after the above photo:

I pass this house every time I drive to or from Massena, and they always decorate extravagantly for holidays. But this year they outdid themselves, with a plethora of skulls and skeletons. This is the view from the road, showing human, horse, dog and vulture skeletons, not to mention what appears to be a winged ram skeleton:

I walked up the driveway for a side view, where the cedars supported bats on strings and some of the skeletons were easier to see:


But that wasn't the entire display. On the other side of the driveway they had ghosts, tombstones, vampires, ghouls and pumpkins. Now that's what I call a Halloween display!:

The Beginnings Of Autumn

Even before the hot days became cool days, skeins of Canada Geese were passing overhead. Then one day I noticed that the Pennsylvania Smartweed in the pasture was turning red:

Because Rose Mallow blossoms are all at the top of one stem, I can't cut any without cutting them all and therefore have to wait until the end of the season. I wanted to bring some to church but there were no flowers on the Sunday I planned to do so. The next Sunday, though, there was one red one. I cut it, put it in a vase and filled in around it with flowers from the Tree Hydrangea:

The Rugosa roses put on an end of season display. I may cut them down to about half their height this winter to give them a fresh start in the spring:

I discovered a new wildflower while walking across the south field but couldn't identify it. I sent a photo to a botanist in Saratoga County but she said it was insufficient for an ID and suggested I photograph an entire plant on white paper. I sent her this:

I sent five other photos, including closeups of the tiny flowers. I thought they might be American Pennyroyal, but she said they were Hyssop, an unrelated plant. It was a first for me and I thanked her for her help:

Sunrises are often spectacular this time of year:

I cleaned the barn floor again. I'll be happy when the horses can stay outdoors all night (if they want to, which they usually do):

I was driving the tractor around the pasture, searching for Remy's shucked muzzle when I spotted Christmas colors along the fence line. I had to get off the tractor and cross the fence for a closer look (I'd had the presence of mind to turn off the electricity before I went out). It was Bittersweet Nightshade with autumn berries, a common enough plant and long one of my favorites:

I also found these Wild Cucumber vine fruits in the barnyard while searching for Remy's muzzle. In fact, that's where I found them - just a few feet from the muzzle:

The Morden Sunrise rose produced a flurry of blossoms. I took many photos but none truly showed the beautiful pink and yellow petals. They are truly striking, much more colorful than they look in this photo:

The Mandarin Honeysuckle didn't grow much until the end of the season, but then it began taking off like a rocket. I think it's going to do well over the winter:

The neighbors stopped by with a basket of the most uniformly ripe cherry tomatoes I've ever seen. They were delicious and didn't last long. I sure have good neighbors:

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: