31 October

October ended gloriously.  Patches of fog lay in the forest and mountaintops, but gleams of sunlight persisted, setting the path and maple leaves alight.


The fungi continue to emerge.  Again, russula show themselves among the trailing blackberry.   The upper one looks as though a snail has nibbled it.


Little orange blobs of hardwood jelly fungus are emerging from fallen alder.


Turkey tails and a small polypore I couldn't identify sprouted among remaining vanilla leaf. 




Most of the vanilla leaf has faded.


A short distance into the Forest, I heard the unmistakeable note of a flight of trumpeter swans--the first time this season.

Near the Marsh, a flight of seven swans passed overhead.


Although still low, the water level in the Marsh continues to rise.



A flock of Canada geese had settled into the south end of the Marsh.


I was joined on the dock by a pair of birders who said there were about a hundred swans down the road at the "Happy Cow Dairy."  After leaving the Forest and Wetlands, I checked out the farm.


Swans usually spend time in these fields, and indeed, there they were.  One exhibitionist bird showed his magnificent wings.


There will likely be swans in this area until the spring--a welcome sight.




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