A Tree for All Seasons

It was several years ago when a certain tree caught my eye – a sugar maple standing in a fencerow between two fields, beneath it a short section of old split rail fence. On that day the tree was cloaked in its brilliant fall colors and the temptation to photograph it was too great to resist.

The picturesque setting made it easy to justify stopping by whenever I was in the area to see it with the change of seasons. Here's how the tree looks through the circle of the seasons (but not in strict chronological order) over several years -

The tree is so photogenic that there are certainly more photographs to be taken.

The Round of the Year - Fall

Late last spring I undertook a project to post one photo from each day of the year, hence the title, The Round of the Year. The first installment, The Round of the Year - Summer was posted earlier. As in that post, there are a few photos from my camera traps. For a challenge, see if you can determine which of the photos are from a camera trap, the answer is at the end of this post.

The season characterized by shortening daylight, falling temperatures and, here in the northeast, leaves changing color is often called autumn, a word apparently derived from Latin. Fall of the leaf was often used in medieval England as a name for the season and seems appropriately descriptive; so fall it will be.

Fall begins with summer-like temperatures and wildflowers still in bloom. Changes, however, come quickly - in past years snow flurries often arrived in mid-October - and by the end of fall temperatures may be well below freezing and the ground may be covered with snow.

  

Whether in forest and field, a suburban backyard or a city park and whether its a plant, a stream, a scene, a tiny creepy-crawler or something large and charismatic there's always something interesting out there - all anyone has to do is look.

Camera trap photos -- 11/10, 11/12, 11/19 and 12/1