Autumn Color - Part 1

I dropped Seamus and Fergus off at the groomer for their autumn haircuts. On the way home, I noticed what beautiful autumn scenery surrounded me, so I took a few detours in order to get some photos:

We were only at 40% color at the time according to the weather report, but it was glorious color:

I'd say that the woods bordering farm fields were more than 40% along:

These old hay bales appeared to have been there beside the road for years, but they framed the picture nicely:

One of the roads I took was called Pleasant Valley Road, which was fitting:

I've become adept at recognizing Roughleaf Dogwood in spring bloom and autumn color, even from a distance. That's it in the bottom right hand corner:

I took a detour though a tiny settlement called West Stockbridge and passed by this lovely lake:

The trees on the far side were beginning to take on color, and the lake itself was filled with Canada Geese and waterlilies:

The shoreline of the lake was home to New England Asters, dried Queen Anne's Lace and Cattails:

And the trees beside the lake were displaying lovely colors:

I took one last photo of the lake and then continued on my way:

Passing through farm country, I kept my eyes open for trees abutting hay fields and corn fields. But I knew there were even more colorful trees to be seen as I got closer to home, so I kept going. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Wetlands And Wildflowers - Part 2

The dogs and I were walking the Rutland Nature Trail eastward, through abundant wetlands (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). The trail was lined with New England Asters in bloom:

And the dogs were ecstatic and muddy. The black cinders which once held up the railroad ties covered the dogs and got into my shoes and leg braces:

 At the other side of a pond were a Snowy Egret and Canada Goose. The Egret ignored me but the Goose honked angrily, upset that I'd invaded its territory:

Most of the red which you see on the sides of the trail was from Roughleaf Dogwood bushes:

And here is a closeup of Roughleaf Dogwood and its berries:

Seamus gave me his biggest smile:

 I was happy to see one Fringed Gentian, but I began to see more of them, then hundreds of them. They were great beauties:

And the dogs got increasingly covered with black, gritty mud:

Little Jack ran to and fro, always with a great smile:

 More Fringed Gentians:

My shoes and leg braces had become so gritty that walking was painful and I saw nowhere to sit and clean them. So we turned around and began heading back towards our parked car:

 I thought I recognized this sapling with the red leaves, so I looked it up when I got home. I decided it was a Black Tupelo, another species I've seen in pictures but never before in real life:

The dogs had finally tired themselves out and walked with me nicely. I didn't have to keep calling them back:

We passed by some channels along the trail:

The walk back was peaceful and calm:

Milkweed pods were getting ripe but not yet ready to burst and scatter their seeds. I'll post Part 3 tomorrow:

On The Eastbound Rutland Trail - Part 1

My sister arrived for a visit and of course we wanted to take the dogs out for a hike. The weather was still cold and I figured any forest trail would still be covered with snow and ice, so we went to the nearby Rutland Trail, the eastbound section which is an old, elevated railroad bed through wetlands. It didn't begin well, however, when we found this headless deer skeleton near the trail head. There was also a pile of garbage someone had dumped:

Just to the right of the deer skeleton were two porcupine carcasses. I wondered where all this had come from but there was nothing we could do anyway, so we began our hike. Alas, Clover later began limping and I found a short piece of porcupine quill stuck between the pads of one of her paws. But it was easily removed and we went on our way:

And the dogs were ecstatic. With water on both sides and a level, straight trail, it was easy to keep them in sight:

My sister and the dogs walked on ahead while I checked something out:

Most of the adjacent wetlands on our left were still covered with thick ice. The water on our right was mostly clear of ice. I never did figure out why, unless perhaps one side was deeper than the other:

It was chilly, but not too much so to have a happy experience. The sun was shining and the sky was blue:

There were both patches of ice and deep puddles, but the dogs didn't mind. My sister and I had on rubber overshoes, so we were OK as well:

Daphne, Seamus and Clover stopped for a breather:

There was beaver sign all along the water. We also saw a number of beaver lodges out in the water, but none of those photos were usable:

Both sides of the trail had been brush hogged, which seemed a shame but I must admit it opened up the views:

We came to a large body of water which was filled with Canada Geese - thousands of them:

Most of them moved away from us or flew away when we got too close. There were also ducks mixed in, but none close enough to tell what species they were:

We had the geese on our right for a considerable distance because there were so many of them - some swimming, some resting on gigantic sheets of floating ice. They were fun to watch. But there was more to see on this section of the Rutland Trail. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Snapshots From Around The Farm

Evening, just before dark. I'd finished the evening chores and was returning to the house to settle in for the night when I noticed this glorious sunset:

 Another day, mid-afternoon, just up the county road from my house: A snowy cornfield, filled with geese:

 They were close to the road and were only mildly concerned when I stopped my car to take pictures. The white birds are adult Snow Geese, the dark birds are Canada Geese and the gray birds are immature Snow Geese:

 Early morning, as I walked out to the barn to tend to the animals. Overhead were multiple skeins of loudly honking geese. They continued honking and passing overhead all through that day:

 I've been attempting to tempt the cows to come into the barn for grain every morning like they used to do. Alas, they've been resistant. On this morning, they walked up almost to the barn and stopped, looking interested but unwilling to enter:

 I had the bowls of grain prepared and wanted to get them used to eating it, so I carried the feed out to them:

 Jasmine still has three bad hoof cracks but has been standing and walking normally, so I am hopeful. On this morning, though, she had her collar hooked over her ear. Jasmine is tame and friendly, perfectly willing to let me adjust it. Some of the others are not that trusting:

 Once her collar was adjusted, Jasmine gobbled her breakfast. She gets expensive, extra sweet feed with a heaping dose of trace minerals sprinkled on top. She also gets a quadruple portion because I'm trying to help her recover from those crippling hoof cracks:

 The miniature horses had been eating their breakfasts also, but they were inside the barn, locked in individual stalls to keep them from fighting. When they were done, I shooed them out the door. Remy looked around, probably wondering where he could start the most trouble:

 Blue walked over the new patch of gravel and then just stood there:

 He took a drink of water from the stock tank and then looked at me as if wondering what I was up to. I'd hoped to take a picture which would illustrate how fat he's gotten, but these pictures seemed to have a slimming effect on him. I wish photos did that for me:

 Refreshed and ready to begin their day, both Blue and Remy headed out into the field to join their cow family: