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

Mixed Blessing

We recently got word that the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) will soon be removing trees within 15 feet of the levees. While this may not sound like much, it will be a huge undertaking. It has already begun, unofficially.

The reason I dread it it is that I count on the trees to protect me from the summer sun. On very hot days, I usually take the HuggaMutt through the woodsy areas. They will diminish.

But! We have to do whatever is necessary to protect the city from floods like in 1972. Elmira never really recovered from that one.

You can check out what it all means here. See why I dread it.

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Little Pond

Dog Days on the Chemung

If you are a frequent visitor to RiverDogging, then you probably recognize the Gateway area. Jones Island is on my right and the levee is on the left. This water runs over stones and is shallow and very clean. Ellie loves it.
You can see the RiverDog at the far left near the electrical pole. In fact, she is looking for the woodchucks that are always out lazing in the sunshine. The geese are making their usual silly fuss, but she ignores them until they try to run. Silly things don't go far, once they realize she doesn't even notice them.
This stately bird was just over my head in a tree when he decided to go wading. I just about fainted when he dropped down in front of me. What he didn't take into account was that Ellie was poking around under the brush along the shore. Right as I snapped this shot, he took off across the river.
Summer isn't complete without a swim in the shallows of the Gateway area. Her poor eyesight makes Ellie curious about the gurgling water, so she swims out to investigate. The water would be up to my knees or so, but she has to swim for real.

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Little Pond