Bird Songs and Sights

        I am always slightly amused at the young White-throated Sparrows that pass through on their way south from the northern breeding grounds. They are doing their best to sing their song but it is always just a little bit off.

        Some of our apple trees are breaking down due to the load of apples this year. After having none last year they are trying to make up for lost time, I think. Anyway, in one of the trees there were 20 Cedar Waxwings enjoying the apples. (I just saw in my bird app that a group of waxwings is called either an "ear-full" of waxwings or a "museum" of waxwings. I like the "ear-full" description myself as they are almost always full of their "cedar, cedar" calls so I usually hear them before seeing them.)

        There were lots of photo opportunities this morning just after sunrise but I don't have time to put them up now. Maybe later today or some other day I can get some up. Spider webs and early morning ground fog with autumn colours make for interesting views.

New England Aster

        The New England Asters, Aster de la Nouvelle-Angleterre in French and Symphyotrichum novae-angliae in Latin, have never looked too good this year for reasons that I cannot understand. Two days of rain have not helped them.

        Meanwhile the rainy day did prompt some barn cleaning yesterday. Today I hope to get to my art studio. Most of my "art" lately has been with photography but I do want to do some painting again and then there is the multimedia project that needs attention. 

Teasel and Moth Mullein

        Here is a photo of two flowers that should have finished flowering a month or so ago. The Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum ssp.sylvestris) started blooming in early July and most have gone to seed long ago. The Moth Mullein (Verbascum blattaria) in the upper background started blooming even earlier in mid June. Most of them have formed and released their seeds already. I find that there are always a few plants in a few places that bloom longer or later than one expects. Both of these are near the shores of Cootes Paradise in Hamilton.

Bee and Run

        Yesterday I walked for 4 hours looking for wild flowers, mushrooms, and insects. I am not so good at identifying mushrooms and insects but I did find and identify 63 wild flowers still in bloom on this first Friday of October. I am not as good at identifying garden flowers but when I stopped to enjoy what ever flower was in the photo below, I noticed a bee also enjoying the flower. It was enjoying it so much that it allowed me to get quite close with my camera.

        Today I was on the run again. It was an 18 km training run for an upcoming half marathon. It was supposed to be long and slow but the speed was a bit more than was comfortable at times as I was with three other runners and they kept me moving. The distance was also a bit more than expected as my GPS said 18.75 at the end. Oh well, maybe that will make the half marathon easier in a few weeks.

Evening Light

        The evening sunlight was coming across our western meadow and caught a milkweed pod in just the right way. Sometimes the seeds of plants are as beautiful as the flowers.