The 2014 Fall Migration Begins/Continues

Why is it that when we see cattails we think of fall?



Well, as summer is near it's end, and fall is approaching faster than I care to think, thought I would share with you some current (and some older) photos.

I am linking in this post with my friend, Donna Donabella, who is hosting Seasonal Celebrations-Autumn's Blessings blog post. Donna writes a beautiful blog called Garden's Eye View. Her photos are excellent and she is very knowledgeable on gardening and native plants. Click on the link to check out her blog.

Signs that fall is approaching in Northern New York. The geese are practicing their V-formations,
the fields are golden, the corn needs to be harvested., and a touch of red in the leaves of trees.

Cedar Waxwings. Filling up on berries for their trip south.

Cedar Waxwing (this photo would have looked better if he wasn't sitting on a telephone wire).

The Turkey Vulture. While this is not a very attractive bird it is actually very helpful in nature. This bird is a scavenger and cleans up dead carcasses in the wild (like deer, raccoons, etc. that have been hit by cars), and dead fish that wash up on shorelines. I learned to identify them in flight because they soar in large circles, and quite often you will see more than one of them. Right now they are getting ready to migrate so you might find them catching thermals on a windy day. They are a very large bird and when you are identifying them you might think you are seeing an eagle or osprey. The tips of their wings spread out and look like fingers. They have a featherless red head. Sometimes you might find them roosting on fence posts.

This photo was taken a few years ago one

morning when a turkey vulture was drying his wings after a rain.

This is a large group of turkey vultures catching the thermals on the eastern end of Lake Ontario.
I'm guessing they are practicing for their flight south for the winter.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were some dead fish washed up on this shoreline.

My husband, Ted, was filling up the suet feeders with a purchased suet block and this little woodpecker did not fly away and was taking the leftover suet out of the container.

Ted Link, the Bird Whisper

What's better than one turtle on a log?

Came back later and saw three turtles on the same log.

Great Blue Heron

Double-crested Cormorant

Cormorant

 Orange Sulphers otherwise known as Alfalfa Butterflies drinking in water and minerals from seaweed.

The Orange Sulphers' habitat is in open fields especially alfalfa, clover, mowed sites, vacant land, meadows and sides of roads. One of the most common butterflies in  North America. In some cases it can be very damaging to alfalfa fields. If you have goldenrod near your home look for them on those plants.


Here are a couple photos of seagulls.  I was practicing trying to get birds in flight. Wow! Is that ever a challenge. After quite a few photos and a little photo cropping, I got two photos that were worth sharing with you.

"[T]hat old September feeling... of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air.... Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year’s mistakes and failures had been wiped clean by summer."

~ Wallace Stegner

Thanks for stopping by. 

Enjoy the last few days of summer. 

Feel free to leave a comment.