This past week has given us perfectly idyllic early autumn weather, adding considerably to our enjoyment of our woodland treks. The atmosphere has been mild, lacking humidity, with good brisk winds and what more could we ask for? The atmospherics have been perfect for full enjoyment of this transition period. From time to time we hear the clamour above of Canada geese winging their disciplined formation southward.

At night we can once again hear songbirds twittering to one another as they make their yearly passage toward more clement climes in anticipation of winter. Small flocks of transitory migrants have been taking full advantage, as they are meant to do, of the bird feeder that stands aloft outside our dining room windows.

When we meander through the Bilberry Creek ravine, we are surprised to see the growing volume of foliage on the forest floor. And looking about us, the tell-tale signs of change are beginning to display themselves, from the foliage of sumacs turning their initial stages of fiery red, to the hawthorns, the first to defoliate, showing off their red haws, and the birches hosting bright yellow leaves in preparation for shedding them.

Goldenrod has lost its bright yellow, the flowers turned to the colour of straw, and the only wildflowers left are asters, hanging in there with their pale purple blooms. Some ground vegetation like dog strangulation vines have declined markedly, already being absorbed into the forest floor.

The superb weather days have changed a bit, with the previous several days being rain-filled. For yesterday's ravine perambulation we all were equipped with rainjackets, including Jack and Jill. The canopy is as yet sufficiently undisturbed to offer us a fairly reliable shelter from the rain, as long as rain isn't too heavy, and yesterday's, though steady throughout the day, alternated between lightly moderate and slightly on the heavy side. We didn't come back drenched, any of us.

And the overcast, dim conditions always surprise us by transforming colour hues to a deep brightness. The sky, through varied shades of aluminum and pewter, emits enough light so the camera captures it even though we can't take full advantage of it while we're hiking through the trails surrounded intimately by the trees, enclosing us in a twilight zone.