October 24th.  An afternoon walk after several days of wind and rain.  Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) at Raymond Brook Marsh.

 

 

 

 

 

A tree down across the trail west of Old Colchester Road and east of Grayville Road.

 

 

 

 

 

Maple-leaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium).

 

 

 

Green Lacewing (Family Chrysopidae) on fallen oak branch..

 

Evidence of a Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar).  Empty pupal skin of a female moth at left; her egg mass at right, protected by hairs shed from her body.

 

 

 

 

 

Witches' Butter (Tremella sp.), a jelly fungus.

 

 

 

Perhaps a Jelly Roll fungus (Exidia sp.).

 

 

 

October 25th.  A brief stop at Cranberry Bog in East Hampton.  At first glance, everything looked dead, but I soon found a couple of things still blooming like this Red Clover (Trifolium praetense).

 

 

 

 

 

Too many pictures of a single clover flower head?  Well, the more the merrier as color becomes increasingly rare over the next few months.

 

Some Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) still blooming, close to the ground where it had been mowed awhile ago.

 

An inchworm (Family Geometridae).  My best guess is a Common Tan Wave (Pleuroprucha insulsaria).

 

 

 

An Ichneumon wasp (Family Ichneumonidae. Perhaps Cosmoconus sp.).

 

A Flower Fly (Family Syrphidae.  Looks like Toxomerus sp.).

 

Queen Anne's Lace still in bud.  Better bloom quick!

 

October 26th.  I hit the trail early, hoping for a sunrise... but what little cloud there was sunk below the horizon before developing any color.

 

Stars and a planet were still visible.

 

 

 

When I left, the sun still wasn't above the horizon.

 

October 29th.

 

October 30th.

 

Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) on the marsh most mornings, passing through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 31st.  Frost along much of the marsh edges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Down (west) towards Grayville Road, the woods and trail edges are rife with invasive Japanese Barberry (Berberus thunbergii.).

 

 

 

 

 

Ferns do well in this damp, cool weather.

 

Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides).