September 22nd marked the autumn equinox – one of two points in the year where the length of day and night are equal. From here, the length of daylight will continue to shorten as we move towards winter. While I always miss the outdoor exploration opportunities that early evening sunshine affords me, there are so many things to look forward to about autumn. 

Although traditional “berry season” (i.e., blueberries, raspberries, etc.) is long over, many fruits and nuts are ripening now. Autumn olives are heavy with bright red edible berries, and hickories and walnuts are dropping their bounty to the ground for easy picking (if you can beat the squirrels there).

Mushrooms, both edible and poisonous, are seemingly popping up everywhere. My husband and I just collected our third round of black trumpets, chanterelles are scattered throughout the forest, and we’ve come across a number of patches of chicken of the woods. Others, like the violet viscid cort, may not be edible, but their bright colors are a pleasure to see. 

Autumn is also the time of goldenrods and asters. Although it is often confusing to try to differentiate between species within these groups of wildflowers, it is easy to appreciate their pop of color as most other wildflowers begin to die back.

The oak and maple leaves have not quite begun to turn, but even this early in the season the leaves of certain species are starting to change. I’ve seen tupelo and sassafras already getting some color, but by far the most striking this time of year are the patches of poison ivy that have turned full scarlet. 

What are your favorite things about autumn? 

Just as this coming autumn will bring numerous changes to the world around us, my life has also seen some substantial changes in the last couple of weeks. The two most notable are that I got married and I have accepted a new position at an organization that will take my career in a totally different, but very welcome, direction. My apologies to those of you who regularly follow the Seashore to Forest Floor blog posts, as I’ve had to divert my attention elsewhere for the last month or so. Now that I’m settling back into a routine, I hope to get back to a regular (i.e., weekly to semi-weekly) schedule of new blog posts so I can continue to share fun and fascinating nature tidbits with all of you.