Short Autumn

Here in Upstate New York, leaf peeping season is often cut short by very cool, dry days. We had a rather dry summer, and that compounds the problem.Most mornings in October can begin with fog near the Chemung River.
It makes for poor photography, but deadens sound, so we can get nice and close to our subjects.
When it burns off, we are left with clear, clean skies. This week we had a cold rain, and that washed away a lot of our pretty leaves. But the view is sparkling.
If you've been to our main site, you've already seen this photo and caption. Double click the picture for detail.
We were very cold, unpleasantly so with the wind, but we still walked down to the spillway. The leaves make their leisurely trip downstream.Upstream, towards Corning, New York, the colors are really striking. I'm told it's worth a drive through the country. We went to the Red Lobster in Big Flats and took the long drive over the hills. Still plenty of green, so maybe we haven't yet peaked.

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Little Pond

Some more color

Ellie and I pulled into the parking lot across from McWayne, near the retention basins. We were looking for the fall colors, but were somewhat disappointed.
It is still too early. There are spots of color, here and there, but they are not anywhere near peak. I believe this view is looking towards Quarry Farm. They tell me there are lots of eagles up that way.
Still, the cooler weather made a much more pleasant walk than we had in the middle of the summer. There are almost no insects to bother us, even under the old railway trestle.
Perhaps the cooler weather made for some pretty sights on the water. This is a view of Brand Park from the Elmira Fire Department river access.

We always see at least one eagle on each trip, but they stay far, far away from us. This time I watched one perfect Baldy flapping over the water, then suddenly drop and pull out a fish. He then flew to the mouth of Newtown Creek. I spotted it later, but as I say, he wouldn't pose pretty for me.

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Little Pond

More Touches of Fall

Ellie and I decided to brave the weather, given that the rains were predicted for the entire week. The everpresent vines. They were the first to turn. Were it not for the colors, this would have been a very bleak morning.
Now the walkway is filling up with leaves. They are falling because of the rain. In the woods, none of the trees have turned, and the walkways are clear.
Ellie really can't appreciate the color. I'm just glad she's willing to slog in the nonstop rain.
The rain has lifted and the sky is brightening up. Just a tease, though.
We hadn't walked far when it started again. We had the entire waterfront to ourselves.

Those are the breaks in Upstate New York, in both the spring and fall.

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Little Pond

Summer's Last Hurrah

This is a little hard to explain. The HuggaMutt is still in her summery glory. She still wants to visit the strand along the Chemung River bank,but she won't swim. The bright sunlight and greenery belie just how cool it is now. And the river waters
are not refreshing. They are very low and weed-choked. More like a pond than a river.
We humans see the tell-tale signs of fall. Bittersweet berries peek out from the green trees.
Even the deep greens are tinged with gold in the bright sun of morning, and the painfully blue sky is another indicator of the changing season. It's a cold blue.
The sun hangs a lot lower in the sky now, too. This picture was taken at 9:30AM not PM. The glare off the water plays tricks with the camera, even though I've programmed it for back light and bright days.

It's a little eerie that the camera knows something's up...

That something is Fall.

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Little Pond

Four herons

The quality of this photo was so bad that it took me a minute to realize that there are four birds.

Again, I'm not quite sure what they are. There is obviously one heron here.

But the others?

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Little Pond

Ellie is never happy to stray too far. As soon as she notices me, she wants to return. Here on the rocks of the retention pond bed, the irregularity and the heat makes walking difficult.

Unfortunately, just as soon as she notices me watching, she begins the arduous journey back, even though she is nearly out to the other side.

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Little Pond

Last Week of Summer 2008

Since I had to work so much over-time this week, Ellie and I tried to make short hops to the river each morning. This fellow was not even watching for us, he was so entrance in hunting.

The river is very, very low, and the fishing is great. We saw so many eagles wherever we went, but they are not willing photo subjects. They soar too high. I nearly soil my pants on Wednesday when an eagle bolted from a tree right next to me. The tree groaned and cracked a little, but the baldy left silently otherwise. Herons and crows make a racket when they take off.


Of course, the eagle was out of sight before I could recover enough to shoot it.
On Saturday we went to Hoffman Creek, but the greenery is very, very lush. I wasn't dressed properly to repel the elements and insects.

A few bug bites won't deter a real adventurer. We are not real adventurers; we left for home after about an hour.

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Little Pond