October 20

 Bundled up in my winter coat with gloves and fleece hat, I walked over to Rosie’s Pond and watched the ducks at breakfast while a nearbyRedTail watched over the flats. It was definitely cool but the air was clear and tangy like spring water.

A little further on I found a patch of dew that seemed a little suspicious. I bent down and touched it and confirmed the first frost of the season. The air temperature at my house was 36 but at the bottom of the marsh at sunrise the magic 32 produced frozen precipitation.  It’s been coming for almost three months when the first sumac leaf turned red but today there was real evidence.

Not twenty feet away, there was this collage of litter, the only litter that belongs in the marsh.

The Overlook was beautiful but empty of anything but Starlings and one Mockingbird. Walking over to the Boardwalk, I found what happens to a milkweed seed. It’s caught in some Spartina where it will probably never sprout.

The Boardwalk was very quiet as well. It was low tide and early morning so that wasn’t a real surprise. Out towards the parking lot, this Chickadee was busy preening and totally ignored my presence.

From the Bennington St. bridge, I saw this Great Egret fishing. It’s nearly the last Egret that I expect to see until next spring.  Except for an occasional Great Blue Heron all the large showy birds will be gone all fall and winter long. The ducks and geese will be here in larger numbers and hopefully a Snowy Owl or two. Different pleasures for a different season.

Ciao!

-Jorge

This entry was posted on October 20, 2008 at 10:03 am and is filed under Daily. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.