Good last day of summer to all

Fall may be near but we still have lots of monarchs and a couple of female hummingbirds. Saw a kettle of 6 broad wing hawks over the meadow today.
The red maples in the forest are 50% down with no color, but the oaks and hickories are still dark green. It sounds like rain in the forest even with the sun out as the acorns and hickory nuts fall.
Garden was a bust this year again. If we could only eat bugs, weeds, and stilt grass!
Elks next door have bugled and owls have screamed. Winter approaches.
The dogs wake up before the sun now. Porcupine crossed paths with Paul and Buddy a week ago by the black locust trees. He’d rattled away by the time Gambol and I caught up.
The small conifer forest we planted below the garden has grown enough to protect us from the neighbor’s bear light.
More rain tonight to start fall off wet.

The world is upside-down--

More proof:  I saw forsythia in bloom in Julian and we have daffodils that are 6" tall, no buds, thank goodness.

Fall is coming

I can tell fall is near because white lines and parking blocks are appearing on the fields around Beaver Stadium. So are the portapotties. Dorm signs are popping up like mushrooms or real estate signs around campus. I might have missed the yellow cherry leaves beginning to fall between the parking lot and my office; a few dogwoods and Virginia creeper have bright red leaves; I might have missed them without the man-made signs. I might have missed the hummingbirds bulking up at the feeder or the flocks of other birds gathering. Thanks goodness for signs of football.
We moved the chicken tractor another length and aimed the game camera at it. Something big ripped a 3" L-shaped gash in the tarp between noon and 5:00 today. The bird bath has been tipped over 3 times this week. I duck taped the gash closed. We opened the door and 11 chicks scooted out; 5 didn't care to explore the wide world and stayed comfortably inside while we moved the tractor. By the time we had it all back together and the tarp back on it was very dark. The chicks were crammed in the far corner, not under the tarp, settled in for the night. I climbed in to encourage them to move back under cover, but as I would toss one under, another would scoot out. Not the smartest animal in the forest.