Monarch butterfly on Mexican sunflower
With the start of meteorological fall Sept. 1, two Pennsylvania centered blogs have already issued their fall foliage forecasts. However, the Pennsylvania DCNR won’t start releasing its popular Fall Foliage Reports on www.dcnr.pa.gov until the end of this month.
PaBucketlist.com which is authored by Rusty Glessner posted a graphic that predicts Forest and Elk counties’ foliage will peak the week of Oct. 8 to 14 with Venango and Clarion sporting their brightest colors the following week from Oct. 15 to 21.
Meanwhile, Uncovering PA by Jim Cheney predicted that Venango, Clarion, Forest and Elk counties would all reach their most colorful foliage during the second week in October.
Commenters on both blog’s Facebook pages wondered if the leaves would even last until October due to the drier summer in some parts of the state.
Meanwhile, Uncovering PA by Jim Cheney predicted that Venango, Clarion, Forest and Elk counties would all reach their most colorful foliage during the second week in October.
Commenters on both blog’s Facebook pages wondered if the leaves would even last until October due to the drier summer in some parts of the state.
Pear crescent butterflies
| The most recent U.S. Drought monitor graphic released Thursday depicted that the northern half of Venango County and all of Forest County were still in the abnormally dry category. The southwestern corner of the state did not fare so well with some counties ranging from moderate to severe drought. A check of the National Weather Service data for Franklin showed total precipitation up to Sept. 5 coming in at 34.69 inches which was still above the normal of 32.56 inches for the same period. Another graphic showed Franklin finishing out the month of August with 5.52 inches of rain compared to the normal of 4.24 inches of rain. The National Weather service out of Pittsburgh offered a little hope on their Facebook page. The post said rain is in the immediate forecast, “but will be followed another stretch of dry conditions the second half of the weekend and next week.” As the chances of rain stalled so did the numbers of hummingbirds visiting my feeders. As we move forward toward fall on the calendar many of our winged friends started their annual migration. The hummingbirds were no exception. However, I was able to get my new hummingbird feeder up before they leave for the winter. |  Jewelweed  Ruby throated hummingbird |
It includes a video camera triggered by motion. During installation I was surprised when “it” started talking to me during the mounting process. Here it was my husband who was setting up the technical aspects of the device. He discovered that the camera had a speaker and could double as a security camera if needed.
At first, I questioned why a bird feeder would need a speaker… so you could talk to the birds. I could only imagine it being used as an intercom with a conversation like: “Humee to the house. Humee to the house. The feeder is out. The feeder is out. Over!”
“House to Humee. Running low on sugar situation is dire. Over.”
While I don’t plan to use the speaker much, it was so awesome to be able to see the hummingbirds in action up close.
At first, I questioned why a bird feeder would need a speaker… so you could talk to the birds. I could only imagine it being used as an intercom with a conversation like: “Humee to the house. Humee to the house. The feeder is out. The feeder is out. Over!”
“House to Humee. Running low on sugar situation is dire. Over.”
While I don’t plan to use the speaker much, it was so awesome to be able to see the hummingbirds in action up close.
Meanwhile, I moved forward with my plans to fill the empty goat pen. After months of staring at an unoccupied shed, I finally made a move.
Otis
Milo and Otis came to live with us at the beginning of August. They were still trying to get used to the dogs. They adjusted to their new home within a week. They are both around three years old. Milos is a long-haired buck, and Otis is a short-haired wether.
Milo
Otis has wattles. Wattles are skin appendages found on some goats. Internet reports claimed they were evolutionary remnants of a gland that common day goats no longer needed. They serve no purpose and aren’t unhealthy. However, some breeders for appearance purposes will remove the skin tags when the animals are young.
Otis
A vet visit for shots revealed that Otis and Milo may in fact be a little chunky and will have to cut back on the grain.
We were starting the process of walking without the dogs who get overly excited. The goats were still adjusting and didn’t venture far from their shed. Hopefully in time everyone will get along.
We were starting the process of walking without the dogs who get overly excited. The goats were still adjusting and didn’t venture far from their shed. Hopefully in time everyone will get along.
| While Milo and Otis enjoyed eating some goldenrod, other late summer flowers were able to bloom despite the drier than normal conditions.  Goldenrod In addition to the goldenrod, wild asters, nodding ladies’ tresses and jewelweed decorated the fields and forest with their flowers. The winterberry bushes went straight to decorating for Christmas with bright red berries and green foliage.  Asters Back in the garden blooming Mexican sunflowers attracted a few monarch butterflies. They were very scarce this year, but I think I may have seen a few more than last year.  Monarch butterflies Meanwhile, there was no scarcity of frogs at the neighbor’s pond. I enjoyed a good chuckle on Sadie’s behalf. She takes her frog hunting very seriously. Stalking a frog can take minutes of stealth movements. While cropping a photo of Sadie in the pond, I spotted a frog in the lower righthand corner of the photo. Sadie was oblivious. |  Nodding ladies' tresses  Winterberries  Sadie |
Male goldfinch
Even if we try to remain oblivious to the seasons changing, nature will surely remind us. Fall foliage and fall migrations will move us forward whether the weather cooperates or not. That’s just the nature of things ‘round here.
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