Nov. 7, 2021 - Fall Photos - 2

Here’s another set of Fall photos. At our lake home in northern Minnesota, we have three Crabapple trees. They aren’t very big yet, but we did get some apples this year. After a recent rain shower, raindrops were clinging to the small apples. It wasn’t quite cold enough for the rain to freeze, but it won’t be long before we have ice-forming temperatures at night.

AppleCrabDunningLakeItascaCounty20211028

One of our resident Black-capped Chickadees came to inspect the crabapples.

ChickadeeBlackcappedDunningLakeItascaCounty20211101

Colder temperatures trigger the food caching instincts of Eastern Chipmunks. This one is posing on a rock under our bird feeders. It’s getting ready to fill its cheek pouches with seeds that have fallen from the feeders. The seeds will be stored in the Chipmunk’s underground burrow to help it survive the winter.

ChipmunkEasternDunningLakeItascaCounty20210909

This Common Merganser was at the boat landing on Trout Lake in Coleraine, MN. No doubt it is getting ready to migrate south for the winter.

MerganserCommonTroutLakeBovey20211015

These are not dead trees. They are Tamaracks, an evergreen species that drops its needles every Fall and grows new ones each Spring. They provide an extra dose of Fall color for us here in Minnesota.

FallColorsTamarackHwyLouisCounty20211028

I was hiking at Tamarack Nature Center in White Bear Township when I saw this Gray Squirrel. Most Gray Squirrels are actually gray, but black morphs like this one are fairly common.

SquirrelGrayblackmorphTamarackNatureCenterRamseyCounty20211104

Finally, one last update on the Trumpeter Swan family that nested on a small pond less than a mile from our apartment in the Twin Cities. All four young swans made it through the summer and are now fully grown. This week I only saw one adult at the pond, so I’m assuming the young ones have learned to fly and have left to find a place to spend the winter. None too soon because it won’t be long before this little pond is frozen over.

SwanTrumpeterfamilyCentervilleRoadWhteBearTownshipRamseyCounty20211023