Pennsylvania Autumn

My friend and I took a little road trip to check
out the PA fall foliage. We traveled up old Rt.
22 and stopped to get a shot of the Lemon House.

The Lemon House, a tavern located alongside the railroad near
Cresson was a popular stop for railroad passengers,
has been converted into a historical museum by the
National Park Service

All along the way I was snapping fall foliage. Pays to
be a passenger!

Near the small town of Loretto we saw this picture
perfect setting.... sunshine, colorful leaves, stone and
wrought iron gate...

Just had to shoot the brilliance of this Maple tree.
(I think it is a Maple tree)

Then we headed back down the mountain
toward more familiar roads.

The Birds seem to love to 'bunch up' on the wires.

The sun was setting fast.

One of my favorite pictures is one with a barn..

Red Tail Hawk

I was headed home for lunch when I saw a hawk fly
up on a telephone pole by the Vets Home. Could not stop -
wrong side of road, traffic, etc.

So on my way back to work (40 minutes later)I almost took
the H9, but thought no way this hawk will still be there.
Lucky for me I have been carrying my H2.
Low and behold he was still there.

I carefully pulled over and took exactly 6 pictures with the burst
setting. Then he was gone.All the pictures looked pretty much the same and
really weird because there is no background, the
sky was gray and did not show up. He was pretty
high up too.

He turned and took off. The last picture had been taken and
I was waiting on the camera to recover. That was the end of that.

Autumn in the back yard

Autumn can certainly be seen with the eye, but
summer still hangs around in PA where the
temperatures remain in the 80's. breaking records
for October. From my deck I can see the turning
of the leaves and one lone bale of hay.

The Playhouse also reflects the changing of the season.

I spent some time on the deck and in the backyard and
here are my findings.
This wren, who usually waits until Halloween to show
up is already here. Appears to be a Carolina wren, who
knows what he does in Pennsylvania, but he stays through
the winter.

All summer I was looking for butterflies. Now one shows up after the
zinnias are about bloomed out.

While the cat is away, chippy fills his cheeks full of seeds.

And, I was ever so interested in this activity at the apple
tree. I kept seeing the finches fly in and out, so I got
the binoculars and watched. They were actually
eating the apples.

I didn't realize birds eat apples, but I guess they do.

And then the surprise for the day. The hawk I see from time
to time came swooping in looking for a songbird for dinner.
He missed, but hung out long enough for me to get
a few pictures. I liked the way he hangs his head
down to watch for prey.

Fall at Wildwood Lake Sanctuary

When I visit my daughter in Harrisburg I go to Wildwood Sanctuary. Was
there earlier in the summer. Check out my post:
http://windowonnature.blogspot.com/2007/07/exciting-outing.html

You can also go to the website and see what is being spotted there
through out the season.
http://www.wildwoodlake.org/

The bog is far across as you can see here with lots of wetlands
that you can walk into on wood walkways.

The first thing I captured was a bird but didn't really know
what it was. Once in the camera and zoomed in I was
very surprised to see immature waxwings. Wow!

There's no denying that mask on the face!

there wasn't as much action as the visit earlier, but
even so the grounds are beautiful to just stroll around
and enjoy nature. The sedum was starting to turn
from pink to the autumn colors along the walks.

Peaceful to walk along the water.

On the upper side next to the highway you can walk quite a
distance with water on both sides. I strolled along looking for
wildlife.

I saw turtles sunning on this log. 3 going west and one east.

I wish the light had been better so you could see the yellow
stripes on his neck.

All the ducks seemed to be napping.

This little lady woke up to groom herself.

There were mallards also grooming.

I liked the way the reflection of the reeds are all
squiggly with the movement of water from
the duck swimming.

Caught this one in flight after I scared him.

I guess the most exciting capture was the egret. He was showing
off and flapping his wings.

On my next trip maybe it will be winter. We'll see what Wildwood
offers then...