I've been lax in posting for a while now, but spring is here and I can't wait to start photographing wildflowers and the other forest creatures...  I posted Part I of this topic back in December, so I'm just getting around to posting Part II.  I had so many great pictures from that weekend, I decided to post them in two parts.

I was lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving on Lake Erie this year.  The drive wasn't the best with all the snow bands coming off the lake, but we did wake up to 4 inches of fresh snow on Thanksgiving morning.  We had hoped to have a bonfire on the beach that day, but it was so windy we ended up having a fire in a pine stand on the abandoned property near the mouth of Canadaway creek.

I like being in the woods on rainy days.  The animals are not accustomed to seeing people and the sound of the rain drowns out a lot of the noises I make so I'm able to get closer to deer and other animals than I ever can on nice days.  When I startled a Turkey on Sunday, I had to laugh because I was only 20 feet away when it finally noticed me.  And even though I didn't get any good pictures of it, I noticed that it ran from me instead of trying to fly away... probably because it was just as soaked as I was.  I did follow it for a bit, but it lost me after heading into some thick brush.

I spent a few hours on Sunday hiking an area of the valley that I haven't hiked in a while.  It was good to explore that area again and see one of my favorite waterfalls, although it was choked full of leaves and other debris so the pictures did not come out very good.  And fall is in full swing so the leaves covering the forest floor are thick right now, even hiding the trails at times.

The leaves are really dropping now and it won't be long before the trees will be all bare. In areas that had a lot of Beech trees, the woods had a distinct glow as the sun shined through their yellowish-green leaves.  It was almost eery at times since the light in the woods would change noticeably. And it's that time of the year where the woods really open back up as the underbrush dies off, so animals are far more skittish and retreat to the dense thickets.

Sunday was an absolutely beautiful fall day.  I spent hours just wandering around the forest snapping photographs and pissing on Blue Jays.  And even though there are very few wildflowers around now, the leaves are near peak so the forest is truly alive with color.

It was good to get out in the woods again, the last couple of weekends I've been up on Lake Erie hiking the beach so it's been a while since I hiked around Sewickley. The woods are definitely showing signs of fall, the underbrush is really dying off now and opening up the forest.  I did see a few Asters while out, but they're starting to fade and it won't be long now until the last of the wildflowers are finished until spring.

I ended up spending a few days up on Lake Erie again this past weekend and while the weather wasn't quite as nice as last weekend, it didn't rain much at all so we were still able to spend all our time having bonfires and hiking on the beach.  New England Aster is still holding on strong up there, its purple flowers are still as vibrant as last weekend and  the little rain we did get probably helped the Steelhead on their annual stream runs.

I spent a long weekend up at Lake Erie again.  The weather was beautiful and made for some great photographs, especially all of the different Asters that are in full bloom up there.  Actually, a lot of the wildflowers were still blooming and I've read that the reason the area is so great for growing grapes is its soil conditions and the longer growing season provided by the lake.  I find that interesting, the warmth of the lake water actually does moderate the temperatures up there so that its growing season is extended longer than we get here in Pittsburgh and it was noticeable in the wildflowers that I saw still blooming up there.

Fall is officially here... Sunday was the autumnal equinox and the woods are definitely looking and feeling more like fall everyday.  Many of the late summer Asters are still holding on strong, but on Sunday's hike I saw so many colonies of Beech Aphids I was actually shocked.  And then, while walking down the creek near the end of my hike, I actually came across two Crayfish locked claw to claw in a shallow pool along the stream's edge.  It was very cool to see.

Fall is starting to come on strong now, with more and more leaves on the ground and the underbrush slowly dying off.  I love this time of year and the transformation all of the creatures of the forest undergo in preparation for the upcoming winter.  But even though the summer is in decline, there are still a lot of wildflowers in the woods and meadows that thrive well into the fall season.

I spent Labor Day weekend on Lake Erie although I was only up there for a few days and we spent all day Saturday mountain biking in McCarty Hill State Forest near Holiday Valley Ski Resort.  So the only chance I got to hike and take pictures was on Friday at Chautauqua Creek and I ended up exploring that area for a few hours.  The mouth of the creek where it flowed into the lake was very low and barely flowing, but it definitely was still flowing.  It's interesting, but even with the waves coming in, the current of the stream will take floating sticks and debris through the waves out into the lake.

Late summer is still going on strong.  Leaves are starting to fall, the insects are busy pollinating flowers, Goldenrods are giving people allergies, and the Beech Aphids are pooping everywhere.  There's no doubt, the woods are changing in preparation for the coming fall.

Late summer...  fall is coming and soon enough the colors of the forest will come to their climactic peak and then be reduced to very little but shades of brown and grey.  But until then, Tall Ironweed, one of my favorite wildflowers, has shown up in the stream bottoms and I hope to see more of its purple blossoms soon.  Plus Queen Anne's Lace, Goldenrods, and Fleabanes are all still holding on strong, so the wildflowers aren't done yet.

While in New York, we headed inland to one of my favorite places to hike, Zoar Valley.  Zoar Valley is a "Multiple Use Area" near the town of Gowanda that is not a state park, but the land is owned by the state so it is open to the public.  The valley has some of the tallest cliffs in New York state and I've read that one of its cliffs is actually the second highest in NY (500 + feet).  Cattaraugus Creek and the South Branch of Cattaraugus Creek both flow through Zoar and at their confluence in the valley there are some spectacular stands of old growth trees accentuated by the high cliffs that tower above them.

I'm very lucky to have a couple of sisters who have a house right on Lake Erie in western NY who let me use their place frequently.  And while our family has vacationed up there since we were little kids, it has been really great to get a chance to see the lake during all four seasons and witness all the changes it under goes throughout the year.  Plus a resident Bald Eagle population makes for especially interesting beach walks.

I didn't have a lot of time on Sunday so I spent most of my hike simply wandering around the creek and one my favorite tributaries.  While out I did come across hundreds of small orangish-tan mushrooms, that I believe are Chanterelles, although I'm not positive on my identification but they seem to fit the descriptions I read.  And Yellow Ironweed is finally here and soon it will be in full bloom along with my other favorite, Purple Ironweed.

The wildflowers are coming on strong again; I've been seeing lots of different summer flowers starting to take off, like the Bergamots, Touch Me Nots and Coneflowers, but the continuing rains are also making for one of the most impressive displays of mushrooms I've seen in years.  Insects, especially butterflies and moths, are also feasting on the bounty provided by the flowering plants and more often than not, there are several species browsing their way around the blossoms I'm trying to photograph.  The forest is truly is fully alive this time of year.

When I was out on Sunday, the woods were starting to dry out but were still pretty damp.  It was hot and humid so I spent a lot of my time hiking in the creek and its tributaries again and I'm still seeing lots of mushrooms and other fungi.  Wildflowers are going strong too; Pennsylvania Smartweed and Mouse-Ear Forget Me Nots are still blooming and I'm look forward to the Yellow and Purple Ironweeds which should be coming in a few weeks. 

I spent most of last Sunday's hike splashing around the creek and its tributaries since it was so warm and humid, but I did venture up a few hills into the forest and was able to get some great mushroom and fungus pictures.