Dancing light, shimmering scenes, riveting reflections and crazy color combinations are just some of the reasons I love to photograph water.

 I have been blessed to be able to use the neighbor's pond as a huge mirrored canvas for these pictures. I am always amazed when I approach the water feature and can look down to gaze at a wide view of the sky.

Of course, one of my most photographed reflected subjects are the critters. The photos can be deceptive. They create a scene of calm and peace when the true moment only lasted a few seconds.

A photo of a high-stepping Clem reflected in the pond's surface netted more than 900 likes and several kind comments when my husband posted it to a Facebook forum for bloodhound owners.

My spouse commented, "Bloodhound people are crazy."
I replied with, "Well yes, you have to be to own one."

However, reflections can be distorted by wind, water bugs, waves and swimming canines.

Nonetheless, rippling reflections can still be beautiful. What seems to be chaos can actually be a lovely and colorful canvas. While a perfect picture may be seen in still waters, when the hues are mixed it can be just as amazing.

As the total picture may be lost in the moment, what remains can still create stirring images.

In the summer, the water bugs create beautiful watercolor paintings of sky blue and leaf green.

In the autumn, the wind uses the fall foliage to create the most colorful images.

No mater the season, there is always something to see in the pond's surface.

Also when the opportunity presents itself, I like to photograph the "big water," Lake Erie.

My mother-in-law lives in Conneaut, Ohio, and visits allow me to grab the camera and travel. Sunsets and waterfowl are favorite subjects.

Sometimes reflections captured by the camera actually seem to be clearer than the actual subject being photographed.
However, I remind myself that is just a reflection and not the real thing.
The real thing is tangible and touchable. The real thing follows you home.

Monarchs, the kings and queens of the wind, have all but completed their migration to southern climes. According to the reports by Team Journey North posted at  journeynorth.org, the monarch sanctuaries in Mexico were filling up with massive arrivals of the orange and black beauties. As for whether there has been a decrease or increase in their numbers in 2020, the jury is still out.

On March 13, the World Wildlife Federation Mexico released its estimate of the monarch butterfly overwintering population. The Federation said that the butterflies were expected to be about half the density of last year's population.

This year  my monarch observations were definitely different than last year. I viewed monarchs steady all summer, but no real increase in numbers during the height of their migration. This year my earliest sighting was on Aug. 3. There have been some years where the orange and black winged insects haven't shown up in my yard until late September or early October. I observed about one or two monarchs at a time this year. That was nothing like last year on Oct. 2, where I had as high as seven in the garden at time. This year they didn't seem to take the bait of the Mexican sunflowers growing in the garden. The monarchs seemed to prefer the New England asters flowering in the neighboring field. My last sighting of a monarch this year was on Oct. 6.

Wondering if it was just the dry weather locally, I took to Facebook to see what other butterfly watchers had to say about this season. 

Curt Lehman, administrator for Butterflies and Moths of Pennsylvania Facebook page, described his observations for the 2020 monarch season.

"The first monarch I saw this year was on May 26 in Westmoreland County. The last one was on Oct. 22 in Allegheny County, but it is still possible to see some, especially with this beautiful weather we are having. It seems like it was a fairly average year for them. They were in my yard daily all summer long, but not as many as last year," Lehman posted in early November.

Greg Kedzierski, a Butterflies and Moths of Pennsylvania group member located in Crawford County, posted that he saw the last monarchs of the year during the second or third week of September.

"I have a patch common milkweed patch in my yard, 200 plants strong, I had them all season with one period of 12 to 15 butterfly at one time. I work at Ernst Seed and our fields are always loaded," Kedzierski added.

Karl Gardner posted, "The first monarch I saw this year in Berks County was on June 6, nectaring on Dame's Rocket, and the first I know of in Berks was on May 31 by Rebecca Reppert."
​Gardner also added at link for the first dates by month for Berks County located at http://www.berkscountynature.org/butterflies2020.html.

Kristi McCollum weighed in with her information. McCollum is a co-administrator for a Facebook page titled Fun Raising Monarch & Danaus Butterflies a Learning Experience Globally. She also rears monarchs.

"My location is Point Township, Northumberland, Waystation 24255. My first sighting was mile from my house on June 29. The first monarch sighted at my waystation was on July 3. I saw her laying eggs in my common and swamp milk week. On the same, day I harvested eggs. The last day I harvested eggs was Sept. 4,

McCollum added that the last monarch she saw at waystation was on Oct. 4. It was feeding on zinnias and ironweed.

Since my request for information on the Butterflies and Moths page was in early November, a few users posted about their seemingly late sightings of monarchs.

Brenda Troutman of Chester County, had a male monarch in her garden on Nov. 12.

Randy Bollinger, posted on Nov. 8, that he had seen a monarch the day before and thought the sighting was odd.

The users were right to be concerned with some of the late sightings. The Journey North posted that it's weekly monarch updates on their journeys south would conclude on Nov. 25, but that it would post periodic updates from some of the monarch sanctuaries.

Peggy Marks lamented that she had a monarch living in a flower pot that was born on Oct. 16.

"Its wing was deformed and could not fly. ... been feeding it sugar water and apples." Marks added that she couldn't believe it  lived through the cold spell here in Carlisle last week or so."

McCollum responded to Marks and provided some information to possibly help the monarch.

McCollum also provided her rearing numbers for 2020. She reported that she had 214 this year compared to 150 in 2019.

Meanwhile, the page Fun Raising Monarch & Danaus Butterflies a Learning Experience Globally, is a wealth of information for those interested in learning more and /or raising monarchs.

The group's creator Ricardo E. Bacallao, who resides in Camden, New York, is in his fifth year of raising monarchs. Bacallao has compiled a book of reference materials that will help anyone from beginners to those with more experience.

Also shared on the page was a link to a story by Monika Maeckle on texasbutterflyranch.com. The article posted that a new study challenges the “dogmatic narrative” that monarchs are in decline.

Maeckle referenced her information on a paper published by migration studies expert Andy Davis, a professor at the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia and editor of the Migration Studies Journal.

Maeckle wrote that in his paper Davis "contends that while modest declines in the overwintering populations are evident, monarchs may be more resilient than other insect species whose populations are crashing during a time that has been called the insect apocalypse – a storm of climate change, pesticide abuse and habitat destruction."

Posts on the Fun Raising Monarch & Danaus Butterflies a Learning Experience Globally, were cautiously optimistic with most folks saying more studies were needed.

Decline or increase in numbers aside, it is great to see that so many northern folks will watch and wait for the orange and gold beauties to make their journey north next year. That's just the nature of things 'round here.

While trekking about looking for monarchs, I entered and area that smelled minty fresh. The warm and humid air on that October day only made the fragrance more inviting.

Apparently I had unknowingly crushed some wild mint. Mentha arvensis, also known as wild mint, corn mint, or field mint, is common according to some websites. It seemed kind of ironic to me that it was fairly common as I really hadn't seen it much on my daily walks.

However, if the common plant is not commonly in an area that one commonly walks, it may not be common knowledge to that person. Anyway, the Lady bird Johnson Wildflower center in a post said that mentha arvensis is one of the few native mints. "This aromatic perennial has glands containing essential oils, and the leaves are used as flavorings in sauces, jellies, and beverages," the post continued.

What I thought was some rogue spearmint plants, actually turned out to be native wildflowers. Nature can surprise you and that's just the nature of things 'round here. 

While I downloaded last weeks' trail camera pictures, I saw something large and blue in the preview picture. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the tail end of a blue jay.

The stealthy trail camera nabbed some turkey and wood ducks as they visited the neighbor's pond. I also was able to get a couple of wildlife photos in person.

A smaller buck stopped for a moment and I was able to get a shot through the trees. (Top of the blog post)

I also tried to be stealthy and sneak up to get a photo of the wood ducks. However, I just can never get as close as the trail cameras can with their unassuming appearances.

Speaking of the ducks, one morning Kyle, the goat, was snorting a warning to something at the pond. He was making me very uneasy as he does this to alert to possible predators. I could only surmise that he saw the ducks and decided they were untrustworthy.

Sometimes, Kyle's warnings are warranted. He can smell a bear and gets very wary for good reason. Thank goodness there have not been many bears on the cameras. Mostly they pass through once a month. Lately, coworkers have reported bear troubles and missing bird feeders. So far, taking our feeders in at night has kept ours from demolition and disappearance.

However, we did almost walk into a bear several years ago. This one was eating suet in the yard at 3:30 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon. It was right on the side of our house.

I would have walked up on it with all three dogs and two goats, if it weren't for some intervention.

The neighbor across the road called my mom who stopped us in her yard before we reached the location of the hungry bear. Thank goodness for alert neighbors who watch over us along with some guardian angels.

The bear left and we returned home. However the minute we stepped into the yard, Kyle was on alert even though the threat was gone.

Bears aside, the camera at the pond caught another animal on the prowl.

It was our ever escaping house cat Timus, who isn't supposed to be outside. Nonetheless, he is undaunted in his attempts as he uses the doggie door and clears the 6-foot kennel fence to freedom.

We have tried several ways to deter him, but none have worked yet. Timus was spotted trekking around the neighbor's pond.

Readers need to realize when I say neighbor, I mean "country neighbor.

It takes the dogs, goats and I about 10 minutes to make the trip from our house to the pond which is several acres away.

Timus has also been spotted in the early morning on one of the closer cameras walking our trails. Perhaps he wonders what all the fuss is about with the walking and wanted to try things for himself.

As the days get darker and the light wanes, I turn to the trail cameras to be my backup photographers.

They are there 24/7.

No matter the weather they provide glimpses of what goes on when we are not around. I get to view the wildlife's comings and goings.

I also get to see the late night and early morning travels of a certain disobedient yellow cat who so far has managed to avoid getting into trouble.

​That's just the nature of things 'round here.

Personally, I favor the maple trees' fall displays. They seem to me to have the best color. The maples in the wooded areas around our home and the neighbor's pond are the first to sport their autumn coats.

 We have what I have dubbed the "late" maples. What I call the yellow maple, which I suspect is actually a sugar maple, often doesn't turn on its brilliant golden hues until late October.

This year it was about a week early and dropped its leaves within days of turning yellow. The other "late" maple is a red maple in my parents' yard. It also doesn't wear a scarlet hue until the end of October. This year it seemed to stay the course. It even had a few red leaves hanging on through Nov. 2's wintry blast.

The DCNR's webpage stated that the red maple is "the most abundant tree in Pennsylvania growing in a wide variety of habitats."

The site went on to describe the state's forests.

"Mixed oak forests cover about 54 percent of the commonwealth -- mostly in the south -- and include trees such as northern red oak, chestnut oak, shagbark hickory, red maple, and tulip poplar. Northern hardwoods cover about 32 percent of Pennsylvania, mostly in the high elevations of the north. Common trees include sugar maple, black cherry, aspen, birch, hemlock, and ash," the DCNR said.

The goats, deer, squirrels and other acorn eaters north of Interstate 80 should consider themselves fortunate.

An article by Marcus Schneck posted Sept. 10 on Pennlive.com, stated that oaks south of Interstate 80 might not produce as well this year due to a late frost this past spring. The oaks to the north had not flowered when the frost hit.

In the meantime, the trail camera stationed at the neighbor's pond tried to outdo me again. The camera took more than 200 pictures of leaves on the pond in one week.

However, I won that contest easily. Over the past few weeks when the fall display was its most brilliant, it was nothing for me to take at least 200 photos a day. I think I probably took a photo of just about every tree in a 20-acre radius. I couldn't help myself. I just loved the changing colors and scenery.

Due to fall's fleeting nature, I try to capture every brilliant moment before the gray November days set in.

​That's just the nature of things 'round here.