Bleak November

Ah, distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak November... Well, no embers here. No ravens, either. Not even crows - all the crows I've seen recently have been too far away, or moving too swiftly through the sky for a decent picture. But except for crows, sparrows, and the occasional buzzard, what I have seen is ... starlings. I'm not crazy about starlings - they don't belong here, and they're noisy, and, well, you know. But I have to admit that the way they line up on tree branches (or wires or poles) is photogenic indeed. At any rate, here is the first half of November in my corner of Maryland...

Mid-November almost and the trees are just beginning to change colors. The bright red ones know what's up, so the flames of maples and so on are here.

But even the Bartlett pears, which go deep red, are only half-way there, or less, really: more dusty green than red.

And as for the yellows - well, either they're still hanging on or, after the dry summer, they've given up already and shed their leaves, leaving the woods a mix of reds, a bit of yellow, much too much green for the season, and bare branches...

But the starlings are about. A pack flock takes over a few small trees in the early morning.

Three starlings in the park in College Park.

Same three after changing their positions.

Oh, hey - look! A winter robin.

The skies are dark in the mornings now, even after the 'fall back' to Standard time. But that makes the stars all the brighter. Here's the morning star (Venus) and the old moon.

Another red tree about half-way there.

More red, this one an ornamental bush of some kind.

A tree at dusk begins to fill with homeward bound starlings. At first, only one, then three...

... and all at once, the tree is filled with them. They don't stay more than a few minutes, and when they go, the November dusk closes in behind them.