It’s mid-September, and the morning air smells like fall (or is that smoke?). Many migratory birds are already on their way to southern places, and leaves on trees and shrubs are beginning to change colors.
On Saturday evening, I took my dogs for a walk in Dorostkar Park. The sky was gray with smoke and not many people were around, which made the park feel quiet and sleepy. Rabbitbrush was blooming bright gold along the edges of the trails, and late summer wildflowers were fading. A ditch that runs through the park was dry through most of the summer, and shrubs that live between the ditch and the river — usually full of fruit this time of year — had dry leaves, and only a few shriveled berries. I heard my first honking “V” of Canada geese fly over — a sure sign that fall is near.
Bridge over a dry ditch, Sept 12, 2015.
Blooming asters, Dorostkar Park. Sept 12, 2015
A flock of unidentified black birds in a tree, Dorostkar Park, Sept 12, 2015.
The Truckee River in Dorostkar Park, Sept 12, 2015.
Dry leaves on a Thinleaf alder in Dorostkar Park, Sept 12, 2015.
Woods rose, with rose hips. Sept 12, 2015.
The Truckee River, flowing approx 25-50 cfs in Dorostkar Park. Sept 12, 2015.
A young Fremont cottonwood growing in the Truckee River channel. Sept 12, 2015.
Silver buffaloberry in Dorostkar Park. Sept 112, 2015.
A shrub willow in Dorostkar Park, covered in rust fungus. Sept 12, 2015.
Dry leaves on a Redosier dogwood, Dorostkar Park. Sept 12, 2015.
Chokecherry leaves, Dorostkar Park. Sept 12, 2015.
Serviceberry with shriveled fruit, Sept 12, 2015.
Dorostkar Park, looking downstream. Sept 12, 2015.
Blooming rabbitbrush, Dorostkar Park. Sept 12, 2015.
The first yellow leaves on a Fremont cottonwood, Dorostkar Park. Sept 12, 2015.
A small V of Canada geese flies over Dorostkar Park, Sept 12, 2015.
What do you see along the Truckee River near you?