Nearly a month into autumn, the land is in the midst of its seasonal change. Even the sky, which appears bluer in October, announces that autumn is in full swing.
The changing landscape is obvious now. Fading are the bright yellow goldenrods and myriad-colored asters that set roadsides, old fields and sunny woodlands ablaze with color over the past month. Joe-pye weed and ironweed that added a purple tinge to meadows are past their full glory.
In the mountains, autumn’s main event is beginning — the annual fall leaf spectacle, when the foliages of oaks, hickories, maples, sweetgums and other hardwoods change into their dazzling reds, oranges, yellows and purples of fall. The full show should be here in a couple of weeks. Some trees — sumac, sourwood, serviceberry, dogwood — already have donned their splendid fall colors.
Wild creatures feel the change. Fall bird migration is quickly winding down now: Most of Georgia’s birds that fly to Latin America and the Caribbean for the winter are ensconced there now or are well on the way.
But arriving in Georgia are the “winter birds,” the short-distance migrants that nested up north and will spend the winter here instead of traveling farther south. They include cedar waxwings, yellow-rumped warblers, kinglets, yellow-bellied sapsuckers and several sparrow species. A variety of dabbling and diving ducks also is appearing on Georgia’s lakes and rivers.
Mating season has started for white-tailed deer and will peak in November. Black bears are moving about, fattening up on berries, acorns, nuts and other wild foods for winter. Woodchucks are adding more weight to survive winter hibernation.
Chipmunks, gray squirrels, blue jays, nuthatches and titmice are caching seeds, acorns and nuts for retrieval during winter. Many year-round birds — robins, cardinals, blackbirds, starlings and others — are forming winter flocks for protection from predators and to become more adept at finding food.
Great-horned and barred owls are hooting and crows are cawing louder now.
IN THE SKY: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer: The Orionid meteor shower will peak this weekend at about 20 meteors per hour in the east after dark. The moon will be last quarter on Tuesday. Venus is in the west at dusk. In the east are Mars, just before midnight; and Jupiter and Saturn, just after dark.
Charles Seabrook can be reached at charles.seabrook@yahoo.com.
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