Every season, Yang and I try take a hike at what we call “The Secret Place.” It’s really not so  very secret, since we usually run into a few hikers or kayakers there. Still, it feels secret to us. Anyway, we made our fall visit a couple of weeks back, hoping to see some beautiful foliage and do a little birding. We’ve seen quite a few warblers, aquatic fowl, and even eagles over the years here. You can see Yang is well prepared with his fancy-schmanzy camera.
After our breakfast of bagels and good pumpkin spice coffee (invented by George Crabtree in the
Though the Secret Place may not have been at it’s peak, we found all kinds of beautiful colors.
A beautiful mixture I especially love how the colors hug the shore and complement the pale blue waters of the reservoir and sky.
Aren’t these berries cool, as well. Perfect autumn decor?!
However, with the recent rains, the reservoir had flooded over part the abandoned asphalt road that is the trail. So we couldn’t take the direct route to the dam at the end of the trail. Gorgeous colors, though, right?
Yang and I were not daunted. We knew of a dirt trail in the woods that would circle around the
The trail looped through the woods and lo and behold! Dry asphalt and the bridge where we would usually chill to watch turtles in the summer and water fowl or raptors most of the year!
Unfortunately, we didn’t see any warblers (out of season), raptors, Whimbrels, Yellow Legs, fancy ducks, or even Cormorants. We did see a couple of Mallards and a gull or two. We even heard a Kingfisher, but couldn’t catch sight of that proud, crested avian dive-bomber. I did get a nice shot of Yang amidst all the autumn color, though.
So, I hope that you can enjoy your own “secret places” in their fall glory. If you can’t get out, maybe you can share in mine. I’ll leave you with this scarlet beauty below.
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Sharon Healy-Yang 