October 5th

 A visit to the Forest and Wetlands on a dark morning.  It remained dry, and the path to the dock was only damp, but it definitely showed the changing season.  The bigleaf maples are adorning the paths and undergrowth with their golden foliage.

Strange to relate, there seemed to be fewer fungi than were present two weeks ago.  Still, there were some tiny beauties among the mosses.

I don't understand this, but cloudy mornings often seem to bring out more birds--mostly songbirds.  At the junction of the trail and the trail loop, there were golden-crowned kinglets,  Pacific wrens, spotted towhees adding their rather grumpy squawks, and red-breasted nuthatches commenting from the treetops.  And a red squirrel, less vocal than during previous visits, perhaps because he was feeding busily on something (I'm not sure on what but he seemed to be enjoying it.).

There were an abundance of birds audible on this visit, although they weren't cooperative with photos.  A red-breasted sapsucker drilled his rows into a fir tree.  Golden-crowned kinglets chirped from treetops.   We still await the winter waterfowl.   No doubt they will make their appearance shortly.

The huckleberry nurse stump that we've been following for the past year has developed new growth.

There is still standing water in the Marsh, but the level is still dropping.

Even on a grey day, the meeting of sky and Marsh has its beauty.

The growth around the Marsh shows the approach of autumn gold.

Beside the path, a stump shows the efforts of a pileated woodpecker.  (Click on the image to get a clearer view of the work.)

Near the exit of the Forest, what may be another yew tree that we've not spotted before.

...a closer view of the needles:

There's always something new to see in the Forest and Wetlands, as the season changes.