Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. - George Eliot

Since my last post (how did August and September go by so fast?!), things are no longer very green in Anchorage.  Well, to be fair, most lawns are still green, and there are plenty of evergreen trees about.  However, many trees, shrubs and ground cover have made the transition to fall.  There are plenty of yellows, oranges, reds and browns to be seen in every hue imaginable, and it is often cool, grey and rainy these days.  Quite a contrast from last autumn where we had unseasonable warmth and sunshine well into October.  My husband would come home from his job with the National Weather Service and say "this isn't typical fall weather in Anchorage.  Next fall will likely be different." 

After a hot summer with many days of above normal temperatures and little rain, I'm not sure anyone is truly complaining about the current weather.  There were thousands of acres ablaze across the state, and the fire that brought lingering smoke into Anchorage for weeks has already cost tens of millions of dollars to fight.  The prediction has been it (Swan Lake Fire) would only be put out completely by snow.  As of yesterday it was still burning, although it is now ninety percent contained.

Despite the frequent soggy days, I have found windows of decent weather to ramble and roam, camera and binoculars in hand.  While many of the birds I enjoy observing in spring and summer have migrated to southern climes, there is still plenty to see and hear.  European Starlings have been visiting the trees along my neighborhood walk.  Black-capped Chickadees are easily spotted swooping from tree to tree throughout town.  As are Common Ravens, Black-billed Magpies, Red-breasted Nuthatches and Steller's Jays.  I never tire of the year-round, backyard commoners.  Their familiar colors, movements and calls are always beguiling. 

For a short while to come I'll be on the lookout for the late migrators plus muskrats and beavers until the wetlands freeze over.  A moose (or two) is an unfailingly welcome sight to behold as well.  I never, ever tire of seeing them stroll about in this city as though they're casually traversing a remote forest or meadow.