Sugar maples at peak color / A wet October means good mushroom hunting / The northern casemaker, the largest of our stream-dwelling caddisflies, is among the last to appear. The pumpkin-colored adults are often seen at screen windows and doors / Witch hazel is in flower – the seeds take two years to ripen / Fertilizer high in phosphorus and low in nitrogen can be applied to trees, if warranted / Juncos may stop during migration to feed on weed and grass seeds

Apple cider pressing is in full swing / Draconid meteor shower: October 8-9. Expect a peak rate of 10 meteors per hour under clear, moonless conditions / Halloween lady beetles are seeking shelter in buildings, each one having consumed about 300 aphids during its larval stage. These newcomers may be out-competing native lady beetles / Chokecherries and pin cherries are eaten by many birds, as well as by bears, raccoons, foxes, chipmunks, squirrels, and mice

Oak, poplar, apple, and lilac are usually the only deciduous trees that are still green / Many of the birds that arrived early last spring are among the last to leave: red-tailed hawk, belted kingfisher, wood duck, and woodcock / Each of a big cattail’s cat’s tails may have up to 125,000 flowers / The landscape still has color. Tamaracks are gold and blueberry bushes are bright red / Snow geese are on their way from the Canadian arctic to the southeastern states

Evergreen woodfern (also called spinulose woodfern) is still bright green, and this year’s fronds will stay green well into next summer / Fishers are eating apples, berries, and nuts now. Their diet does not consist entirely of small mammals and house cats / White-tailed bucks are scraping the ground, signifying the beginning of rut / Only the hardiest of the migrating songbirds are still here: bluebirds, phoebes, robins, and the occasional hermit thrush