Migrations

Last week flocks of geese could be heard from the valley below my house. The sound of talking geese is almost comforting. They had stopped over in the now cut corn fields. Thousands of them were just generally resting and refueling. What an amazing sight to behold. The soil in uneven dark patches with cut corn stalks still imbedded yet leaning in various ways making interesting directional flow. The bodies of the geese blended in with just a flash of their white chin straps and the odd light colored breast or white spot of an underbelly. The light striking some of the corn stalks had an amber glow which warmed the fields. The very next day they were gone.

As with the autumn leaves I long for these treasured moments to last longer. It is fortunate here in the Okanagan/Shuswap however as the larch now have their needles glowing. Fall continues even though the temperatures have lowered. The hills and valleys are radiant and seem to be calling me to get my easel and head outdoors. I spent a whole week recently doing just that but it never seems to be enough.

With change of season and the cooler temperatures my bird feeders now have guests returning. The stellar jays have appeared once again. The woodpeckers and my favorite the Pileated has shown up, although briefly, after having a good summer of regular forage. Small birds that were seen regularly through out the summer now enjoy the abundance of the feeders. Many summer residents have long since gone.

I know they will return in the spring when I will look for them all once again.