Winter Colors: Brown

Bare Brown Woods

I watched the colors change over the course of the fall, and before I knew it, fall became winter, leaving the landscape bare and brown. The colors faded as the sunlight waned and the temperatures dipped, turning the woods from garish yellows, oranges and reds to sudued earthtones. Most of the leaves have fallen from the trees, except for the Beech leaves that hang on and rustle in the breeze. The leaves that fell will break down to form new soil, at first leaving only a skeletal outline of veins and stems before decaying altogether. Acorns, Buckeye and flower seeds, ripened to a rich brown, become a delicious feast for the lucky finder. Freezing winter nights bring sparkling leafy treasures to find on a morning walk. The groundhog saw his shadow this week, predicting six more weeks of winter. This is fine with me because for a short while it is easy to spot birds and squirrels out in the open, without the protective cover of leaves. For now I enjoy the quiet and cold and wait for the sun to warm the soil. 

Beech Leaves

Leaf Skeleton

Ripened Flower Seeds

Buckeye Seed

Acorn Pile

Frosty Sweet Gum Leaf

Sparkling Frozen Landscape

Brown Creeper

Gray Squirrel

Carolina Wren

White Tailed Deer

Hermit Thrush

Female Eastern Towhee

Brown Turkey Tail Fungi

Fall Colors: Red

 I have been hoping that things will start to feel like normal one of these days soon. But I'm not so sure anymore. So I walk the woods and watch the colors and try to clear my mind. The world feels red hot and chaotic, but in the woods red is a calming, soothing color. Red leaves glow from across the lake, making warm reflections in the water. Red berries from Dogwood trees shine from branch tips, tasty meals for birds or squirrels. A handful of red Salvia blossoms linger after the first frost. Red mushrooms pop up after rain, only to be munched by the snails and slugs. Red Cardinals splash in the birdbath. Red Georgia clay, preferred building material for ants, is all over my hiking shoes and the floor of my house after the rains. The hot pink belly of an exotic Jōro spider hanging in her golden web with her mate, made it through the first hard frost. They won't survive the cold of winter, but their eggs will. Cedar Waxwings who arrive in huge flocks each fall, eat their weight in berries throughout the winter, their red wax tipped wings and yellow tails bright in the trees against a crisp blue sky. Fuchsia Maple leaves, changing from green to pink flash out along the trail like a beacon. Robin Redbreast is here for the winter and he brought a few hundred of his friends. A Red-tailed Hawk pair hunts from the top of a tower. Red leaves of Virginia Creeper climb a tree at the Nature Center. The brightness of red grabs my eye as I walk, pulling me into focus with nature and away from the worries of the world. Stay safe. Wear your masks. Be kind. 

Oakleaf Hydrangea leaf turning

Red Oak Leaves

Red, Red, Red leaves

Red Sweetgum Leaf

Brilliant Dogwood Berry

Scarlet Salvia flowers just before the frost

Red Mushroom munched by snails

Red Male Cardinal in the bath

Pink belly of a female Jōro spider and her mate who made it through the first freeze

Ant chambers in the Red Georgia Clay

Waxy red tips of Cedar Waxwing

Hot pink Maple

Robin Redbreast

Red Tail of the Red-tailed Hawk

Virginia Creeper climbing a tree

Fall Colors: Yellow

As I continue in my effort to maintain sanity and calm in these unsettling times, rather than yelling at the radio and newspaper, I am watching the changing fall colors. Today is brought to you by the color Yellow.

Yellow is the color of migrating warblers who stop by our backyard pond to energize for their journey.

Black-throated Green Warbler

Prairie Warbler

Tennessee Warbler

Northern Parula

Yellow is the color of wildflowers blooming in the garden, in the parks, and along the roadside, providing nourishment for pollinators and winter seed food for Goldfinches.

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia sp.)

Camphorweed (Heterotheca subaxillaris)

One lone Coreopsis bloom 

False Dandelion (Pyrrhopappus carolinianus)

Goldenrod (Solidago sp.)

A European Honey Bee visits the tall Swamp Sunflowers (Helianthus angustifolius)

Hungry Eastern Tiger Swallowtail flutters as it gathers nectar from Wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia)

Yellow is the color of Cloudless Sulphur and Sleepy Orange butterflies that migrate south along the Eastern US to Florida and beyond. 

Sleepy Orange butterflies gather around clusters of asters to feed for their journey

Look up in the sky on a fall day, and chances are you'll see a Cloudless Sulphur flying overhead

Yellow is the ripening stalks of grass, glistening golden in the sun.

Golden grass pollen tassels

Foxtail Grass wears a halo of hairy awns

Yellow is the color of fall leaves that shine from the forest floor and dot the woods with light.

Tulip Poplar 

Muscadine Grape leaf 

Poison Ivy leaf