Last Days of Summer

Here in the Mount Washington Valley, winter seems to linger throughout the spring, while summer fades into fall before the season changes on the calendar. To humans, especially avid gardeners, this seems unfair. Plants and animals, though, don’t notice as long as temperatures and rainfall stay within “normal” ranges. This summer’s record rainfall was not normal, and had both positive and negative effects. Our flora flourished in our well-drained soil, while the fauna endured additional challenges. Most noticeably, there were significantly fewer butterflies throughout the season.

That said, we’ve seen quite a few interesting caterpillars the last few weeks. One, this beautiful Hickory Tussock moth caterpillar, chomped on the Chokeberry (below) last week. A close look at this black and white caterpillar’s face makes it look like a young seal pup! Our native American Hornbeam is a preferred host tree for this caterpillar.

This Yellow Spotted Salamander (below) needed to be rescued from our pool. We scooped him out in our leaf net and placed him in the garden bed. Is it my imagination or does he seem to be smiling now that he’s back on more familiar ground?

Nothing says end of summer like the dwindling number of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in the garden and at the feeders. This little female fledgling enchanted me one morning as she flitted around the Chokeberry bush eating bugs. Another young female couldn’t figure out how to sip from the feeder, trying every possible way, day after day, except for the way that would work! We still had one hummingbird around yesterday, but soon they will all be gone, some flying non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico to their wintering grounds. We will be thrilled to welcome them back next May.

While on a daily tour of the garden, I spied a flat, glistening spider web gleaming in the early morning sun. This Grass Spider emerged briefly from the web’s tunnel. (below, left). Nearby, a Red-legged Grasshopper (below, right) posed on the late-season blooms of the New England Aster, revealing surprising mosaic details on its legs and body.

Another early morning, I set up my camera to try to capture some birds in fall migration. There were no birds, but three, adorable juvenile chipmunks put on a show for me, running, tumbling and playing together for that brief period when they are social creatures.

Sunsets and sunrises are more vivid as summer turns to fall, with changes in the sun’s angle and wind patterns. Below are some images from our back deck. The winds of Atlantic Storm Lee created the dramatic orange sunset (below, left). Sunrise on a rare sunny day offered hints of the glorious foliage show that’s right around the corner (below, right).

It’s been thrilling to see how many different pollinators – butterflies, moths, birds, wasps, bees, beetles and flies – visited our native garden this summer. I wasn’t sure when I started this blog what would happen, but this is exactly what I hoped for. Insect numbers are in dramatic decline, and without them most of these plants would not be able to reproduce, and the whole system would collapse. It was amazing to have them here, and to look closely enough to really see how fascinating they are!