The Last Rose of Summer

'Tis the last rose of summer
Left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone...

Thomas Moore (1805)

Autumn arrives by the calendar today but its presence has been felt for much of the month. Shorter days, cooler nights and changing colours signal a change of the seasons. This past weekend the overnight temperatures dropped to a degree above freezing but killing frosts have yet to touch the garden. We had an abundance of green tomatoes which did not ripen during this cool, wet summer and they have now been picked from the vines for future enjoyment. I found one last red rose hidden beneath a bending branch of the forsythia bush.

Flocks of crows and starlings perch on the tops of trees making a great racket as they fly into the sky, circle and land again in the branches. Local ponds and swamps are full of plain Mallards, the males still lacking their breeding plumage. If you look closely, there may be a migrating Pintail or Green Teal duck amongst the common local birds.

Migrating Great Egret

Or an even more outstanding visitor may land and rest at the water's edge on its long journey south. Fall is my favourite time of the year bringing change, and unexpected surprises. Today's autumn equinox sets us on the three month journey to winter's solstice as the sun warms the southern hemisphere emerging from the chill of winter.