Last light of the afternoon

I took a late afternoon walk to put the day behind me (both cars were in the shop today... don't ask). The sun was already below the horizon, but still illuminating treetops in the east, so I headed down the path into the woods.

I disturbed the settling birds left and right, identifiable by their calls only. The air was pleasant and cool, the sounds of the river were almost enough to cover the sounds of the highway a half mile distant.

The rhythm of the river and the woods, with the birds and squirrels settling for the night, the chill of late fall and the dampness from recent rain put me in a quieter mood. Feels like it's time to take a break from days ordered by the clock and pitch a tent somewhere. I wonder what the weather will be like on Saturday.

Walking back across the cornfield I paused to admire the waxing moon high in the east. The spot where I stood will be under snow before long, but for the optimist it will be only five months before the Woodcock returns to this corner of the cornfield to perform his plummeting, spiralling, twittering display flight.

Birds out there in the dusk:

American Robin, Turdus migratorius (seen)

Black-capped Chickadee, Poecile atricapilla (heard)

White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis (seen)

Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens (heard)
Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata (heard)

photos from top to bottom: Home in the late afternoon, Roaring Brook at dusk, Shagbark Hickory (Carya alba), Moon over the cornfield

Well, an experiment here, let's see how a little video does. Taken from the same spot as the still photo above, right where Roaring Brook enters the Willimantic River. Very low light, hence quite grainy.