I love McCall anytime of the year. That said, Fall could be the most glorious season. Everything is changing colors and the contrasts are striking. Sit on the deck at Jug Mountain and you see the still green golf course surrounded by fields of orange and brown crops and riparian areas. Soon the Tamarack trees will turn a bright yellow and begin to lose their needles. I believe it is one of the few deciduous pine trees. Red, yellow and orange is on its way to the landscape. Just as interesting is the preparation of the animals for the fall.
Our cabin has a red metal roof, I recommend it for durability, fire resistance, and shedding heavy snow fall. Imagine this metal roof when it hails, rains or the squirrels are using it to soften the pine cones. Yes, the squirrels have learned that if you drop the cone from the top of a 100 foot tall tree on a hard surface they can store the food for winter. I complained to my local tree guy and he said if I put out water for them they would be grateful and stop bombing my cabin. Hank accommodated my request and 1 week into the experiment I feel it may be true – no bombing. Be kind to a squirrel today, they may respond in a positive way.
Finally, I have to tell you about the pileated woodpecker that is pictured this week. We have a pair of them who return to Pilgrim Cove each year. The bird is one of the most striking forest birds on this continent. It is nearly the size of a crow, black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming red crest. They are unique because as they search for carpenter ants they leave a distinctive rectangular hole in the tree. As nature would have it, the nest holes the woodpecker leaves offer crucial shelter to many species of birds, bats, and pine martens. The pileated wood pecker is a visitor, a migrant to Idaho. I hope they return next year.
“September days are here, with summer’s best of weather and autumn’s best of cheer”. Helen Hunt Jackson.
Enjoy each day but revel in the transition to fall. Mike