Yesterday we had a brief reprieve from the cloudbursts that had consumed the day and night before; at least until the evening hours, enabling us to get out into the woods with no concerns that we would be inundated before getting very far. The shorter days and cooler temperatures along with the rain have encouraged fungal growth, mostly in bright oranges, erupting from the leaf-mass of the forest floor, feeding on cellulose remains of old trees, and directly on the stumps and trunks of dead trees themselves.

And we're increasingly seeing signs of small wildlife making their winter-storage preparations in the sight of pine cone pieces disassembled by industrious squirrels, their 'nuts' extracted lying about here and there. And foliage beginning to turn bright red.

We disturbed one little resident of the forest, so tiny we hardly could make it out, as it tumbled in panic away from our approach, a tiny, grey-brown creature that was probably a vole. I didn't succeed in capturing it on my camera; its size too minuscule along with my unwillingness to approach too closely and thereby send the thimble-sized animal into further panic.

Jackie and Jillie didn't seem to notice its presence, for which we were grateful. But sighting it however briefly brought home to us yet again the secret life of the forest, brimming with animals and insects that instinctively evade detection by humans. At one time, decades ago when we first began hiking in the ravined forest we would often come across ground birds like grouse, and they're no longer around. The foxes that were once so unafraid have taken to hiding their dens far more carefully. And we seldom see raccoons there now, though a family visits our backyard composters on a regular basis, sometimes even during the day, seeming unfazed at our presence. We used to delight in seeing wild rabbits and they too are far less numerous.

Partly the result, doubtless, of owls moving in for periods of time when food is less plentiful in the boreal forests, and the presence of hawks returning seasonally. Nature in continual flux.