Moose sightings continue to be reported in the area
Butterfly
The first official week of fall certainly felt as such. The winds blew, the rains came and many of the beautiful leaves fell to the ground. The view out my window is still pretty as the colors refract on the surface of the pond.
As Karen says, you can see the pond much better now. I hope you got to see the beautiful sunset on October 2. The reds bled through the clouds in the western sky making for a beautiful picture.
I hope members of Mark Bowie’s photography workshop at View got it as one of their shots during their three days with him. Some just finished a macro photography workshop with Les Saucier from North Carolina. These folks battled with the weather to get out and get some close up shots.
I have a correction to a photo that appeared in my column a couple weeks ago. A picture labeled Ladies’ Trusses should have been Tresses. The correction came from an anonymous reader in Old Forge. My computer underlines misspelled words and tresses is underlined. It sometimes even puts in the correct spelling. Thanks for the correction.
I want to thank whoever picked up the two black bags of garbage that I found thrown in the ditch on my way to Ferd’s Bog the other day. I put them beside the road near the Fringed Gentian patch and was going to get them on my way back home, but they were gone. Thanks.
We tried to catch the Loon tangled in fishing line on Fourth Lake again this week, and we nearly had it. He bounced off the front of the canoe and I missed him with the net.
After that he knew what the trick was and he took a dive every time we got within thirty feet. He may go south wearing that line as he has lived with it for over two months now.
After my last column I had several calls about Hummers still hanging around, so I had to put my feeder back out. I saw my last hummer was on the last day of September. If you see any more of them, they will certainly be stragglers.
The sunny days this past week put more Monarch Butterflies on their journey south and westward. I photographed one in the Rocky Mountain Parking Lot hugging some New York Asters on Friday, September 30. It was a male with a damaged wing that probably will not make the trip.
There were a couple Pink Edged Sulfurs working the same patch of flowers along with a bunch of Honey Flies. This should put an end to the bad biting Dog Flies or Stable Flies, which have been really bad this fall.
I probably killed over one hundred with the fly swatter while trying to work in my garage this week.
It didn’t matter where I went, they were there, whether I was walking to Ferd’s Bog, biking to Beaver Lake, or planting flowers at View.
I have had some Moose sighting reports. A big bull was seen crossing at the entrance of Eighth Lake Campsite. Also, a cow and two calves were seen along Independence River.
A bull showed up there with them also and no one had a camera. I’ve seen several tracks in the Moose River Area but no animals attached to them.
We didn’t get the worst of the early fall weather as I saw a few pictures of snow on the pretty colors in the mountains of North Carolina and West Virginia.
I’m sure a few flakes fell in the High Peaks as temperatures were cold enough up that way. If you plan on hiking on those trails check ahead of time as some are still closed from September washouts.
For example, there is no bridge on the Northville to Placid Trail crossing the West Canada Creek at the outlet of Mud Lake. This is a major crossing in the middle of nowhere, so if you get wet this time of the year it could be a danger to your health.
Sometimes it’s better to turn back than take the chance. Late season Brooktrout can be fun and beautiful, but that’s another story. See ya.
