Shorter days, chilly mornings, and the beginnings of fall color claim early October as their habitat in time. Spring gets all the headlines for its exciting expectations of new life replacing dormancy, the arrival of colorful neo-tropical migrant birds, and a thaw that warms and loosens old joints, drawing us outside to take it all in.
This young Common Merganser can fly now, its hatch-year age told by the light eye.It may be from one of several broods I saw growing up through the summer.
But fall can be a time of the unexpected. It might be a rare migrant going back to the South on a wayward path. Sometimes it’s the dispersal of young creatures only weeks or months old, still too naive to be afraid to be seen by humans and looking a little clumsy in the new world.
Spotted Sandpipers, the adult on the left transitioning for the winter out of its spots, and the young, unspotted bird, hatched this past summer, on the right.
Here along the South Fork of the Eel, mornings are quieter in the big picture compared to spring and summer, but sightings are all the more precious for their relative rarity.
Usually one of the more common damselflies seen by the river, American Rubyspots were rare this past summer, so when this one showed up unexpectedly, I couldn’t resist capturing it even through a veil of aquatic grass.
This post is a collection of photos of who’s been making appearances the first half of October, 2024, during a time when abundance may have passed, but variety remains rich.
Young American Robin transitioning out of its juvenile spots to its well-known rich reddish breast.Non-native, but well established locally, Wild Turkeys are out and about with their nearly full-grown chicks. This one is one of a family of ten I’ve been seeing lately. It’s flying across the river to graze on dry grasses.Immature Red-tailed Hawk could be the offspring of a local pair I’ve watched for years, or could be an out of towner, moving through.
Black-tailed doe and her two fawns, (the second one almost completely hidden behind the first) now grown out of their spots.
The first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the fall, one of the birds who have bred in the far north, and come here to spend the winter.Female or hatch-year Common Yellowthroat, one of the warblers that stays around the longest before heading south.The same Yellowthroat, investigating a spider web. Webs filled with captive bugs serve as a kind of all you can eat smorgasbord when insects are more abundant in the summer. Here, I wonder if the maker of the web itself, seen toward the left of the pic, is the hoped for mini-meal.This was one of the last times I saw a Northwestern Pond Turtle before the cold nights drew them into their torporous winter retreat.….or maybe it was the annoyance of endless swarming flies that drove the turtles off. Turns out turtles move pretty fast when swatting flies.I wonder if fish are easier for this Belted Kingfisher to catch when the water temperature drops.
It took the Kingfisher a while to finally subdue the fish into a swallowable state.When I saw this American Mink I wondered if it was one of the youngsters from the family I saw a couple times last summer. Northern River Otter checking me out between dives.
The same otter diving for small prey.Pileated Woodpeckers have been raucously loud and frequently seen the past few weeks.Vying for loudest bird on the block is the Red-shouldered Hawk.The “Yellow-shafted” version of the Northern Flicker is not common around here, and has a black moustache rather than a red one, as well as a red marking on its nape. The reddish coloring under the wings and tail of the “Red-shafted” form is replaced by yellow on this bird. Maybe next time it will pose after sunrise for me.Female Belted Kingfisher anticipating being buzzed by another Kingfisher.
Thank you, Ann, your photos and the identifications are wonderful. There’s a lot going on at the Park, too. I always wish you were with me to tell me WHAT IS THAT BIRD? Melissa
Thanks Melissa. We are doing a birdwalk at the park Oct 26 if you’re interested. I haven’t been over there much lately, but let me know if you want me to add you to the email list.
Free Range Photography 
Leave a reply to speedytriumpha4ef443fbe Cancel reply