migration of raptors

Yesterday was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. While out in the back I saw four raptors gliding high in the sky over the small hill behind our house. One of them was way up there, barely visible. I remember going to see the raptors congregate around Mt. Philo a year ago. I remember watching about a dozen of them calling and careening around on the north side of the mountain. I know that they favor mountains in their annual migration southward, but I wasn't sure why. Here's what I found.

http://blog.uvm.edu/fntrlst/2011/10/02/the-fall-migration-of-raptors/

berries of fall

Boats on trailers presumably heading back from the lakes to winter quarters. Kids scurrying off school buses in the afternoon. The wildflowers of spring have become the berries of fall. This is False Solomon's Seal.

tiny purple flowers

Mums

Vines

Asters

When Munindra Ji, a Vipassana meditation teacher, was asked why he practiced, his response was, "So I will see the tiny purple flowers by the side of the road as I walk to town each day."

Tara Beach

Zen page-a-day calendar

young ones

Driving through Pawlet yesterday on a dirt road and noticed a flock of turkeys, probably about 20 of them. It looked like about half were adults, and the other half were younger. They weren't the fuzzy little birds of summer, but they definitely weren't full grown. I realized that this is a time of the year that I had never really noticed before. Many animals in the natural world are not babies anymore, and trying to make their way in the world for the first time. I see the baby bluebirds sitting on the back fence, looking for insects fairly frequently. A couple of months ago, these same birds were craning their necks in the bluebird house, waiting for a handout. The other day I saw a mother fox, and one of her offspring trotting through the field in the back. A couple of times I have seen a young bobcat crossing Rte. 133 on the way to West Rutland. Haven't seen the mother.
The size of the flock of turkeys was sobering. There were so many young birds. That seemed to indicate that many of them probably wouldn't make it through the winter for one reason or another.

milkweed

One of the first plants to change from summer green to the colors of fall is the milkweed plant. It is the only plant that is consumed by the caterpillars which turn into Monarch butterflies. In many areas, the loss of milkweed habitat has contributed to the decreasing population of said butterflies.
I just read an interesting article from last September from the Burlington Free Press that farmers in Vermont and Quebec are actually cultivating the stuff. Apparently the seed pods produce a superior silken thread that can be used as insulation in clothing and for other purposes. This should help provide sustenance for Monarchs in our area.

future

Soaking in the culture at the Haddam Neck Fair over the weekend.

corn

The corn is about as high as it ever gets, coming to the end of the growing season. Some of it looks to be at least 8 feet high. The operative color for Vermont during the summer is green. It's not called the Green Mountain state for nothing. However, as summer turns to fall, green is replaced my the more muted colors of brown and gray. The first sign of this comes from the tassels of these very same corn stalks.