The Tree

Just around the corner is a large Sugar Maple tree that I stop at frequently.  It's become a favourite because I can get close enough to take pictures of the lower leaves.  Just two weeks ago it was a bright orange torch!  Here are a selection of my pictures of just this one tree.

Here is the tree just 10 days later.  Sorry about the wires on this one.

More of My Fall Colour shots

After shooting about 400 shots of our Sugar Maples out back, I've concluded that they are slightly different colours.  One is a deeper orange and one is a more yellowy-orange.  Here are a few pix to try and show that.

Can you see that difference in these shots?  The left pair of trees are more orange, while the right one is almost yellow.

I've always thought of the right hand tree as the bigger one, but in fact the left hand two, though smaller in diameter, reach toward a higher canopy.

I can really see the yellow colour in these two shots looking upwards.

And these are just two pictures I liked!

The Sun and the Moon

Every now and then Mrs. F.G. comes rushing in and says  "Gimme your camera!"  And when she does she usually comes back with great results.  Here are two of her recent captures. 

Sunrise out the front door.

The Hunter's Moon

I'm Flummoxed!

Fall colour has exploded all around us, especially right here in our own backyard and I've taken far too many pictures of it!  We have three Sugar Maples out the back windows, and you can get 1000 different pictures of them, from close-ups of a few leaves to shots of the whole yard.  But I like to have a theme, at least in my own head, when I write posts, so how am I supposed to sort 400 pictures into meaningful posts!?  You'll just have to take what you get.

An early shot just as the colour is changing, and a recent shot with almost fluorescent colours!

Another pairing of shots about 10 days apart.

The distant Sugar Maple on the golf course - west half.

And east half.  That will have to do for today.

Those Distant Sandhill Cranes

Let's take a look at those Sandhill Cranes, in a distant shot across the scrubby pasture.  They were certainly a long distance away, and I'm only using my phone camera, so they're not as clear as I'd like, but Sandhill Cranes in this area are fascinating in several ways.

This is a dist6ant shot; I've tried to crop those below to get a closer image.  They are huge birds!

Sandhill Cranes are big birds, about the size of a Great Blue Heron, but fatter.  They certainly have a similar wingspan, up to four feet..

They were unknown in this region 20 years ago, being largely a western bird, but they've appeared further and further east in recent years.  They are now common in north-eastern Ontario and on Manitoulin Island - so common that farm interests are arguing for a hunting season.

The cranes feed on almost anything, from small invertebrates to grains and berries.  We frequently see them on harvested corn or soybean fields.

Cranes mate for life and choose a mate based on their dancing displays, during which they leap into the air with wings outstretched and bob their heads.

Their call is an earie prehistoric bugle sound that carries a great distance.  You often hear them overhead before you see them.

The cranes migrate in great flocks, heading to the southwest U.S. where they over-winter in flocks of thousands.  Here they gather in small flocks like the one we saw, gradually coalescing into large flocks for migration.  The Sandhill Crane is truly one of our most fascinating birds.

Fall Colour Out the Window

I take lots of fall colour shots every year, and this year is no exception.  But every year I wonder what sorts of shots capture the vibrancy of fall the best.  I do know that here the Sugar Maples are the ones that turn bright orange and red, so I search those out.  Even then I often think that close-ups of a few leaves capture fall better than broader shots of a group of trees.  These are all shots taken straight out our living room window; hope you enjoy them!

Catching Up to the Fall Colour

Suddenly here it is past mid-October and fall colour is bursting out all around!  I have several posts left from late September that I haven't written yet, but I can always return to those (an apple farm, migrating salmon, and the pumpkin farm), so I'm going to introduce you to some leaves turning colour today, and there will be much more in coming posts.

We headed out for a drive on Tuesday, in hopes of finding some good fall colour to photograph (and perhaps some Sandhill Cranes).  We drove west of Owen Sound instead of down into the valley, and we were successful on both counts.

The colour started immediately but finding bright red trees was much harder/  Those were only the Sugar Maples.

I sometime like to include some big branches in the picture.  Somehow I thin it makes it more striking.

Eventually we got on some real back roads, stopping to say hello to a herd of curious cattle.

And then there they were - a flock of about 100 Sandhill Cranes in the very far distance.  We stopped quickly; there will be more pictures of these unique birds.

There were several stretches of roadside with lines of red Sugar Maples!

Back here at home it's a different story.  I can get close to at least some leaves, and I enjoy taking time to compose my pictures.  It's a challenge getting good shots while driving unless we actually stop.  And some Sugar Maples are yellow, like this one.

Others havwe hearby hydro lines, so you have to select smaller bits of the tree.

And right here in our own backyard the leaves are looking like this these days.  What's your favourite sort of fall colour picture?

More Scarecrows

There are lots more scarecrows, mostly downtown, so here's a selection for your blogging pleasure!  Lots of pictures, no comments, so just scroll though them!