Day by Day Throughout the Year - 4th Quarter

October is the middle of fall, a season of green turning to bright yellows, oranges and reds with a few pinks and purples mixed in and then gradually fading to drab grays and browns in November. The year’s fourth quarter can begin with summer-like temperatures and end with deep snow in December. It’s one of many things we like about living in northeastern North America – as has been said, variety is the spice of life.

The photographs from the first three quarters of the year can be seen here, here  and here. The year’s fourth quarter doesn’t correlate to a particular season since fall begins on September 1 and winter begins with December, before the fourth quarter ends. This series, as the other photo-a-day-for-a-year series that preceded it, was inspired by a similar project undertaken by a well-known nature photographer.

Here are the day-by-day photos from each day of the year’s fourth quarter, hopefully you’ll enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed taking them –

                                            

 

In northcentral Pennsylvania it used to be unheard of for there to be active butterflies and salamanders in November, but on the 5th I saw three different species of butterflies in the air, on the 6th, under a short piece of a log, five active red-backed salamanders and on the 21st an eastern garter snake basking in the sun. The first snow flakes fell at the house on November 22, a month later than was normal 50 years ago. If you don't believe in human-caused climate change I have a bridge to sell you.

So here we are at the end of one year and the beginning of another, what will the new year bring? The weather is becoming more erratic, bird populations are in decline, more and more invasive introduced species are becoming established, the sixth great extinction is underway – things are not good in the natural world.

However, there are still beautiful things and processes to see, study and photograph. I’ll be out in the natural world, camera in hand and still be here posting weekly. Hopefully you've enjoyed viewing these photographs, and that they've piqued your interest in what's out there in forest and field.

Take a look at the wide natural world around you, the flowers and trees, the birds and bugs, the wind and rain and sunny days, it's worth protecting and will be if we each do whatever we can to save what's left.