A photogenic mantis

As the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia drenched us in late September, a second storm named Phillipe slowly meandered northward off the Atlantic Coast. It threatened to strike Bermuda, but instead took a left turn in early October. As it broke up over land, the storm brought heavy rain and gusty wind to New England and northeastern Canada. 

Although there was local flooding, The major inconvenience was that it kept us inside for several days. Our area has now experienced rain on 15 of the past 20 weekends. The past two weeks provided only a few "blue sky" days with favorable  conditions for photography.

Highlights against the sky included a brief visit from a Cooper's Hawk which seemed to have an eye on the feeder birds. They all scattered when the hawk landed on our roof. This one was quite large, about crow-sized, so it was likely a mature female, about 20% larger than a male. She had a particularly prominent "bustle" of white feathers under her tail:

She circled over the back yard and disappeared:

Two days later, an Osprey, our only fish-eating raptor, appeared high in the sky.  It was sailing on an updraft and then glided down, only to spiral upward again. Very  likely migrating, it never flapped its wings and gradually disappeared over the western horizon:

Most of the Eastern Phoebes have migrated away, but a few linger on.  Although they normally subsist on flying insects, they can survive on berries and their seeds during a mild winter:

  

Song Sparrows are permanent residents...

 

...but relatively few Chipping Sparrows are seen here during the winter:

White-throated Sparrows have arrived from northern breeding grounds:

Dark-eyed Juncos will soon be the most common sparrow species at our feeders. Only a few have appeared so far:

Ruby-crowned Kinglets can be fairly abundant during migration, and a few persist all winter. This is a male, whose red crown is barely visible:

When sunshine returned, it was evident that autumn color was beginning to develop:

The back fence overlooks the clear-cut area, which slopes down sharply, about 500 feet (152 m)  into the valley, descending about 80 feet (24.4 m) in elevation:   

 

Sassafras leaves have turned red:

Sunbeams tried to burst through a stormy sky:

At sunset, the sun peered out from under the cloud deck:

On a clear and calm day, the lake reflected autumn brilliance:

A Praying Mantis walking along the fence provided an unexpected opportunity for my iPhone:

 

This video illustrates the tactile sensitivity of the mantis:

This week's header: Hartford in Autumn

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Linking to:

Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

Garden Affair

All Seasons

Image-in-ing

Nature Notes

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World
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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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