Autumnal Equinox

Today we celebrate the Autumnal Equinox. Today the Sun passes directly over the Equator as it leaves the Northern Hemisphere and heads south. Today we have exactly twelve hours of sun light and twelve hours of darkness...more or less.

The sunlit portions of the day will continue to get shorter for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere until December 21st when the Sun will be at its lowest in the southern sky. As to be expected, these shorter sunlit days will also mean cooler temperatures. Already up north the Arctic ice is growing in its vastness and snow is appearing on the mountains of Alaska, the Yukon and British Columbia. It's just a matter of time before that snow heads further down the slopes and further south.

Here at the Aerie we have not yet had a killing frost nor has one occurred at the Bolt Hole slightly further north. But it will happen. And fairly soon, I'm sure. The deciduous trees have already started to change color and lose leaves. Not in any great abundance, mind you, just a few hickory, cherry and maples dotting the hillsides, but the rest will follow.

The hay farmers have been working hard to get their final cutting in for the year. Soon they will be looking to harvest the corn that still stands green in their fields.

The men working on the gas wells and pipelines are rushing to get their work done, too. As are the men erecting the windmills on top of the mountain and the road crews making improvements and repairs to bridges and highways. All must be done before the frost and ice fiends stalk the land.

Once we are in the grip of winter, most outside activities will cease. Cows that once went to pasture will stay in and around the barn. Construction equipment will be set aside for road plowing and salting trucks.

The real cold won't hit until well into January for it takes time for the Earth to give up what heat it has stored. But when it comes out of the north, it will come with a vengeance. The Bolt Hole will see low temperatures in the minus 10 to minus 20 degree range. The Aerie will see a day or two when it will get below zero and possibly as low as minus 10 degrees. The latter portions of January and most of February will be the coldest. Then the sun will be noticeably back on its way and even if it is cold, the promise of Spring will be seen in the longer day light.

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Come October 1 I'll have to see about stockpiling some seed for our feathered friends. The feeders haven't been out since mid-June when we had a bear come up on the deck looking for a midnight snack. It won't take long for the birds to find the feed--nor to empty the feeders once they do. Right now they are scattered through the countryside enjoying their own harvest of natural seeds, fruits and insects. The first frost will change that.

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Today has been a rather gloomy but mild at the Aerie. The sun did break through the scudding clouds from time to time but for the most part they held sway. The low this morning was around 50 degrees and the high only 65. There was a bit of a spritz of rain over night and a drop or two fell this morning as well. There's been a steady strong breeze out of the southwest and we may still get a drop of rain before midnight.

Spring is really here!

How do I know? It has nothing to do with the budding forsythia I saw down in Princeton, NJ, or the New Jersey trout fishermen I saw along the Pequest River yesterday or at the Millstone River basin and adjacent canal off Washington Street in Princeton, or the blooming daffodils on the Dodge Estate along Route 206, or even the half dozen groundhogs I saw scampering along the side of the highway as I drove back to the Aerie today. No, proof that spring has really arrived is on the windshield of the Tundra in the form of squished bugs.

(Also, the ladybugs are appearing on the outside of the windows. Oh, and the mourning doves on the deck are really pitching woo to the point of being pornographic.)

Fall has officially arrived

The Autumnal Equinox has passed and Fall is officially here.

At the Aerie, the Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds have moved south. None have appeared at the feeders for the last few days so we pulled the sugar water feeders. The Gold Finches have shed their bright yellow plumage and are now a drab olive green. (Unlike the Philadelphia Eagles and, now that they're on the tube, the Washington Redskins. Must be a retro uniform thing this weekend.)

The trees are starting to show more and more color as the shorter days trigger the end of chlorophyll production and other colors begin to show through. There's a smattering of red and yellow out there on the hills. Even the pines are showing a bit of brown as some of the older needles are being shut off. Of course, the needles at the tips of the branches are still bright green and will continue to photosynthesize for much of the winter and for a year or two more before they are worn out.