The most magnificent display of colors in all the kingdom

of plants is the autumnal foliage of the trees of North America.  (Donald Culross Peattie)

   

    Button up! The first frost will be here soon.

    In western Pennsylvania leaf color peaks first in the northern counties and in the mountains.  Expect the brightest colors in the Laurel Highlands in early October, in the southern counties in the middle of the month.  Beware of leaf peepers, those swarms of people that fill the woods and clog the roadways to experience the beauty of the season.

    Enjoy the fall colors but use your daylight wisely; our days are shortening fast.  In October the daylight periods decrease faster than any other month, averaging three minutes less each day.  Daylight Savings Time ends at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 1.

    Listen for the characteristic sounds of the autumn woods -- the complaining and bickering of Blue Jays; the clucks and frantic squeals of chipmunks as they put in stores for winter.  In the evening you can hear the stridulations of crickets and katydids until at least the first frost.

    Asters are the dominant October wildflowers, but many summer flowers persist until the first frost.  Look for smartweeds, chicory, Tall Boneset, Queen Anne’s Lace, Common Evening Primrose, Spotted Knapweed, White Snakeroot and jewelweeds.

Spotted Knapweed

Centaurea maculosa

    The growing season is over by October but the fruiting season peaks.  Many plants depend on animals to disperse their seeds.  Mammals busily cache acorns and hickory nuts for winter and migrating birds are plentiful, defecating seeds on their way south.  Clinging seeds stick to fur, feathers and socks.  Other plants use the wind.  Soon the trees will be leafless and autumn winds will carry the airborne seeds great distances.  Watch for these and other seed dispersal strategies.

    Clean and fill your bird feeders.  Look for Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows in early October.  Other migrating sparrows to look for are Song Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows and the secretive Lincoln’s Sparrow.

Chipping Sparrow

    Bird migration continues.  A last wave of Chimney Swifts will pass through western Pennsylvania in early October.  Enjoy the last of the warblers.  Most have already gone, but a hardy few will linger into October.  Some possible late warblers are Tennessee, Nashville, Magnolia, Cape May, Black-throated Green, Palm, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat and Hooded Warbler.  Most fall warblers, however, will be Yellow-rumps.  Some will stay through the winter.  One species to keep an eye out for in October is the Orange-crowned Warbler. 

Magnolia Warbler, first fall female

    Will the first American Tree Sparrows show up before November?  Look for Lapland Longspurs, American Pipits and Horned Larks.  Expect Brown Creepers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. 

    The hawk migration continues, especially along the ridges on the eastern edge of our region.  All but a few straggling Broad-winged Hawks have passed but the numbers of Sharp-shinned Hawks will peak in mid October.  American Kestrels will continue and numbers of Coopers Hawks, harriers, Red-tailed and Red-Shouldered Hawks will go up.  Some Merlins and Peregrine Falcons will move down the Allegheny Front. The hawk watchers are looking forward to the big push of  Golden Eagles in mid October.

    Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are well on their way to Mexico and Central America but keep your feeders full for stragglers.  A Rufous Hummingbird or some other western species might show up.

    Ducks arrive with cold fronts in October.  Most are dabbling ducks that feed on the surface by dipping their heads in the water with their rear ends pointing to the sky.  Dabblers include Mallards, American Black Ducks, Wood Ducks, American Wigeons, Blue and Green-winged Teals, Northern Shovelers, Gadwalls and Northern Pintails.  Flocks of Ruddy Ducks and Ring-necked Ducks also begin to grow.

Ringed-neck Duck pair

    Large “V”s of  migrating Double-crested Cormorants will fly over western Pennsylvania on their way to the Atlantic coast. 

    Look for growing flocks of robins, starlings and blackbirds.  Just before dusk huge numbers of these birds head for the security of communal roosts.  Rusty Blackbirds are always exciting.

    On October nights Northern Saw-whet Owls move south along the mountain ridges.  Great Horned Owls are already calling in Pittsburgh and so are Eastern Screech Owls.  Short-eared Owls usually arrive in the reclaimed strip mines before Halloween.

    Northern finches will not be as spectacular as last winter but anything is possible. 

Nodding Lady Tresses

Spiranthes cernua

    The Nature Observer interviewed Esther Allen many years ago about wildflowers in October.   According to Esther, “Autumn brings asters and goldenrods, Sneezeweed, Bur Marigold, pretty little Field Milkwort and Ladies-Tresses.  Look for Bottle Gentian and Fringed Gentian.  Lots of fruits and pods will show up in early October.  Some of the more interesting pods are Jimsonweed, Turks Cap Lily and several milkweeds, Bur Reed and Ditch Stonecrop.”

Swamp Milkweed

Asclepias incarnata

  Look for the fruits of Carrion Flower, Partridgeberry, and of course the dogwoods, and wild grapes.  With all the autumn rain keep your eyes open for some interesting mushrooms.  Amanita, Lepiota (Parasol Mushrooms), Lactarius (Milkies), Russula, Clitocybe Nuda (Blewit) and the Shaggy Mane Coprinus comatus are some of the colorful fungi you might find.”

    Look for inconspicuous beechdrops, a many-branched, leafless parasitic flower, under American Beech trees.

    Woolly Bear caterpillars are moving.  However, in sharp contrast to the Monarch Butterflies that migrate thousands of miles to escape the winter, these furry caterpillars are only going a short distance, possibly only across a path or a street.  They are searching for a sheltered place to spend the winter. 

    Woolly Bears are the larval form of the Isabella Tiger moth.  The Woolly Bear spends the winter as a caterpillar, curled up in a sheltered place under a rock or log and protected from freezing by its heavy “coat”.

Common Green Darner

Anax junius

    Dragonflies move south, as well as butterflies.  Monarchs will continue to migrate for a few more weeks.  Watch for migrating Painted Ladies.  I found this one on Mt. Davis, PA in late September.  

Painted Lady

Vanessa cardui

    White-tailed Deer begin their rut in October.  Porcupines also mate in October.  How do porcupines mate?  The old joke is “Very carefully!”  Indeed, the porkies’ long, sharp, backward pointing quills pose a serious romantic problem that requires a creative solution.  If you are curious enough, read the detailed description of porcupine love in Guide to the Mammals of Pennsylvania, by Joe Merritt (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1987).

    In the fields the Woodchucks are packing in the calories, putting on the weight that will sustain them through their deep winter sleep.

Large Tolype

Tolype vellada

Maple Spanworm

Ennomos magnaria

    Fewer moths are attracted to porch lights but some that do are spectacular.  Some species that might show up are False Hemlock Loopers, Large Tolybe moths and Maple Spanworms, a colorful species that mimics sugar maple leaf.

    Visit Spruce Flats Bog at Laurel Summit for a beautiful fall image.  The green sphagnum frames dark pools of water.  Large clumps of Cinnamon Ferns turn a cinnamon color.  Sedges provide a beige carpet.  Fluffy Cotton Grass waves in the breeze.  Maroon seed capsules of Marsh St. Johnswort are shaped like candle flames. 

Marsh St. Johnswort

Triadenum virginicum

    The scarlet foliage of the Black Gum trees stand out against the evergreen hemlocks, pines and spruces.  Also look for cranberries in the sphagnum moss.  To reach the bog, drive up Linn Run Road from Rector, Westmoreland County, PA.