6 degrees and sun / cloud mix at the start.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female)
Botany Highlight: Indian Hemp
Indian-hemp (Apocynum cannabinum)
Species list: northern flicker, downy woodpecker, blue jay, black-capped chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, red-breasted nuthatch, gray catbird, American robin, house sparrow, northern cardinal, rose-breasted grosbeak, white-throated sparrow. (12 species)
Purple-stemmed Aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum)
Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)
Dryad’s Saddle
Beggar-ticks (Bidens frondosa)
Joe-pye-weed (Eutrochium maculatum)
Shaggy Mane
Multiflora Rose hips (Rosa multiflora)
Miles Hearn
NATURE POETRY
Hail, old October, bright and chill,
First freedman from the summer sun!
Spice high the bowl, and drink your fill!
Thank heaven, at last the summer’s done!
– Thomas Constable (1812–81)
Those shaggy manes are a choice edible, and make the best mushroom soup – but they don’t keep. Pick in the morning for supper the same day.