Nature Notes

 October 1 Fall colors starting to happen around Boston. I liked this red flare of ivy on a wall in Susan's neighborhood.  And the next day, this single tree turning color across the street from my house. The next few days were blustery and cold, some hard rain, feeling like fall is really happening. October 5 Sparrow at the Chestnut Hill mall, right by Bloomingdales. October 7 Bicycling out to Race Point on the Cape this morning, passing Herring Cove beach, flocks of blue jays, dozens and dozens of them, flew from the woods across the road.  I wondered if they were migrating as it's unusual to see so many together.  Even though we see blue jays year round in Massachusetts, it's possible that our summer birds go south and more northern ones come here for the winter. Susan's friend Christie came over this morning, all excited, having found chicken of the woods mushrooms, great sheets of them, all orange and yellow, growing on a tree right near her house.  Said ...

  August 31 My friend Alison, who lives in the woods near Haliburton, Ontario, has been seeing a bald blue jay, molting, at her feeders.  She sent this photo with stumpy little blue spikes of feathers just coming in on its head. A little embarrassing. September 3 Susan noticed this group of three trees on our walk at the Arb this morning.  The one on the left is blossoming while the other two are covered in seed pods. They have a great name: golden rain trees, reflecting their clusters of bright yellow flowers which eventually produce lantern-like seed pods. The Arb acquired these trees from North Korea in 2001; hard to believe they could get them from there today.   Walking partway up Bussey Hill we see a hawk flying fast and low under the canopy of the trees, fairly close to us.  Exciting! This afternoon, looking over at my neighbor's yard, I see a  downy woodpecker perched on the bamboo mat screen hiding his heat pump, looking a bit incongruous t...