Posted October 1, 2020

September this year was perplexing: days of brilliant sun in clear skies and warm temperatures, with the pleasing scent of field grass being mowed; days of cloudy skies portending needed rain that never came; days of dense fog and, near the end of the month, driving rain and winds. All of this while, the concept of living was being redefined by the Covid 19 plague.

Perhaps because of the drought-like conditions for most of the month, leaves started turning into fall colors prematurely.

September is the month when many wildlife youngsters are strong and agile enough to come out of hiding. White-Tailed Deer fawns appeared in the fields during the days with their mothers; baby porcupines traveled alone wherever they wanted to go; immature Ospreys had become strong flyers, but their mothers still provided most of their food at the nest.

Migrating Canada Geese passed through in sun, fog and rain.

An unusual number of mature Northern Flickers passed through here in September with their fledglings. Here we have a mature male with two immature males that visited us. (Males have black mustaches.)

We also were visited by immature Solitary Sandpipers, including this cutie:

On the waterfront, very few schooners were chartering this season due to the plague. We were lucky enough to have a favorite, the Stephen Taber, visit Great Cove:

There also were relatively few sailboats here, but we were visited by Legend, a huge sailing yacht from the Cayman Islands that dwarfed some of our local craft.

It was a confusing season for our lobster fishermen (male and female). Some ended their season in September due to confusing conditions caused by the plague, tarrif wars, and increasing regulation, among other things.

The wild Apple Trees held most of their crops in September, while some of the Maple Tree leaves started to turn and fall. Hydrangea Trees and bushes, which love fog, thrived.

Virtually all of our last generation of Monarch Butterflies have migrated south, leaving the Milk Weed plants, on which their life cycle depends, to propagate seed. Queen Anne’s Lace started its death spiral during the month. Black-Eyed Susans and Beach Roses also were giving their last performances of the season.

Wild and cultivated Asters hit their peak during the month. Sunflowers were stunning when the wind got in their hair, and the last scenes for Dahlias and Roses were particularly poignant last month. We also saw our first Chrysanthemums in September and expect to have them enlivening us into November.