There was still some color on the ground and in the trees along the Northern Rail Trail in Lebanon mid-November. The red leaves of early autumn were gone, but the berries of the poison ivy remained. They are actually good bird food in winter.
The jumble of leaves, trunks, and branches made interesting patterns and textures as Jann and I took a favorite walk in Etna, one we call the “Par ridge Loop” because the signpost has a missing letter.
A crow flew overhead against a deep blue sky.
On November 23 there was a sun pillar over Vermont.
During another walk in Etna, the sky was still very blue and apples remained on trees below a partial moon.
Ice was forming on a small pond.
During another walk with Jann in Etna, we found some interesting mushrooms…
…and some burdock.
At our home we were visited by a pair of Mourning Doves and a very cute Tufted Titmouse. We seem to have a bumper crop of Titmice this fall.
And then it snowed. Below are four scenes from Etna. The hill in the sun in the distance is Moose Mountain.
Below are five photos of birds in the snow: Blue Jays, Tufted Titmouse in flight, two Red-breasted Nuthatches, and a White-breasted Nuthatch.
On walks around Hanover and Rumney, I photographed two interesting constructions.
A pair of gray squirrels chased each other up, down, and around a tree before coming to rest. I thought they might be mating.
A local business was considering upgrading their web site. Since I had surprisingly few photos of Dartmouth, Jann and I walked through the campus and I took some photos that I thought might well work cropped to a 3:1 aspect ratio.
They are in the slide show below along with a few older photos taken in winter and three from a fall helicopter ride from my yard to Norwich and back.
Jann and I walked in Lebanon in early December. I was intrigued by the shadows of bare trees on colorful buildings. Sometimes shadows can seem as real as physical objects in a photo.
Along the Mascoma River in Lebanon we enjoyed colorful male Mallards flying around.
I worked the theme of leaves and patterns during walks in Hanover and West Lebanon.
I was actually in Rumney three times during the last month of autumn. On the second trip Jann and I stopped in Canaan, and I photographed a barn and silo behind an oak tree and the Indian River from almost the same spot.
After concluding Jann’s quilting-related business, we walked through the very pleasant town of Rumney. Here are three scenes I captured.
Driving back there was a surprise snowstorm that was not predicted by any forecast I had seen. We stopped briefly in Enfield for this photo.
When the snow melted, we were visited by a male Purple Finch and a pair of Mourning Doves.
There was a colorful sunset December 14.
The next morning there was a beautiful sunrise that I chose to use as a background for a photo of amaryllis that I placed on our back deck.
I purchased a new camera. It came with a phone attached. Here are two photos with the new iPhone: Rilla, our cat, and the sun on a very calm Lake Mascoma along the rail trail.
The phone camera has some amazing macro capabilities. Its widest lens focuses to less than an inch. Here are three examples: tiny juniper berries, equally small winterberries, and a puffball mushroom that was about one inch in diameter.
Jann and I hiked the Woodland Trail on Starr Hill at Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital. I used my new iPhone to document our walk.
Six deer wandered through our yard. One posed quite nicely for me.
Four of us hiked Stinson Mountain in Rumney on a fairly warm December 17. The trail was surprisingly icy. Below is a photo taken in the small parking area before we headed uphill.
Along the way we saw some orange jelly spot fungi on a fallen log.
From a side trail just short of the summit, we had a nice view of Stinson Lake and Mount Moosilauke with Mount Clough to its left, followed by the three peaks in the Benton Range — Black, Jeffers, and Blueberry Mountains.
At the summit we found the footings of a fire tower that existed from 1911 to around 1967. The 120-degree view here is mainly to the south, directly into the sun, as seen in this three-photo image taken with the iPhone.
Using a “real” camera with a longer lens, I took a photo of Mount Kearsarge in the distance with the ski slopes on Ragged Mountain visible in front of it and the wind turbines on Tenney Mountain just across the Baker River Valley.
From the summit we got a limited view to the northeast. I have labeled the mountains with the help of PeakFinder, a great phone app. Seeing Mount Washington was a surprise. In front of Mount Clay is Mount Wiley at over 4000 feet.
Before heading home I took photos of Mount Stinson from Stinson Lake and from downtown Rumney.
The night of December 19-20 brought 7-8 inches of snow to our yard. The photo below shows the snow plow about to obliterate deer tracks.
After the snow seemed like a nice time to hike around Occom Pond in Hanover. In early afternoon the slope on the old golf course was in use. The fences set up to keep folks from crashing into some serious stones make an interesting pattern.
The sun was out but the sky to the north was very dark. That made for a dramatic photo of Occom Pond.
Later that afternoon crepuscular rays appeared in the sky over Vermont, one shining directly on Mount Ascutney at 3:24 PM.
The snow made photographing yard birds less cluttered and less contrasty. In order, here are: American Goldfinch, Tufted Titmouse, Blue Jay, and Mourning Dove.
On the last day of autumn, Jann and I hiked our favorite loop in Norwich. I photographed Blood Brook along Elm Street.
That afternoon a deer walked by my home office.
It appears that the deer is laying in the snow in the photo below. But it was just walking behind a snow bank.
After today, the days get longer!
