October

It's October. Trees are beginning to change color, some birds are gathering to migrate and those who don't have stopped breeding and are gathering into larger groups for the winter; squirrels are collecting food, and so are bumblebees. The night lingers longer, and the stars are still visible as I wait for the bus; Venus glows with a steady light and nearby Sirius is almost as bright, but twinkles with the distance. When the sun comes, it slants through clouds and deep blue October skies... Soon it will be winter.

Venus in the early morning in Laurel

Sirius - almost as bright as Venus

Sunrise in College Park just an hour later

Autumn tree against the sky

Fallen leaf

Sparrows in a tree (or two trees growing together)

Bumblebees, working hard in the early morning

A squirrel, caught between a photographer and a crazy kinsman - his! - waiting on a nearby tree

Blackbirds gathering in a tree

Blackbirds beginning to depart in a flock

At least four and twenty blackbirds heading west in the early morning