SEPTEMBER THE STIRRING MONTH
Rex Burress
After the doldrums of a hot summer has drained all the energy out of the season, along comes September that seems to stir and prod everything to prepare for a change. The transition extends well into October.
As much as spring is a time for revival of new growth, autumn is a time of preparation for confronting the oncoming winter storms. Some of the signs of September are spectacular, like migrating salmon ending up at Oroville, and the ultimate arrival of migrating birds that fill the marshes with waterfowl. Less noticeable are the small warblers and sparrows that suddenly fill the thickets along the river, but their coming brings joy to the birdwatchers.
A September walk along the river provides a multitude of seasonal signs. The colorful tinge taken by deciduous plants is the most noticeable sign of impending change, but worn stems and seed cases can be quite interesting, too. Molted bird feathers hang around until munched to dust by minute microbe decomposers, and stumps and fallen wood decay into humus. The first rains will reactivate bug and fungi occupancy in the rotten duff in Feather River country, which becomes like a woody playground for water-dependent life. Watch!
Something else to watch for are the galls that decorate tree leaves with a colorful attachment containing gallfly and cynipid wasp eggs. Some of the most noticeable are found attached to blue oak leaves where they fall to the ground with the deciduous cast-offs and the metamorphic cycle ends with the emergence of a tiny fly along toward spring. One species is brilliant red with spines like a sea urchin. The ball-like oak galls on the stems is another species with a fascinating story. As Einstein said, “everything is a miracle,” everything also has an intriguing story. Watch!
September is also a good time for travel to western ghost towns. The milder days before winter stirs the explorer spirit, and those who are curious about history and nature get impulses to go into the Great Unknown if you can.
Thus it was during a Nevada foray to look for gem stones and old mining towns one fall, that my rockhound friend Lee and I bounced around on desert backroads for a week, and followed the gem map to places like Candelaria, NV. In that abandoned mining town, ore carts still stood on tracks in mines, and among the few buildings left, opium bottle hunters had dug the soil. Even the cemetery was fleeced. Treasure hunters will go to great effort to find the prize, just as bird watchers, plant hunters, entomologists, herpetologists, and even fisherman work with fervent energy to pursue their passions.
During the principal objective , we also discovered beautiful aspens in Lundy Canyon, thinilite crystals in Mono Lake tufa, a lingering rattlesnake, the remnants of Rawhide town, and the ultimate of ghost towns at Bodie. When you have a variety of nature interests, any trip far or near has some treats for you!
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of the birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for spring. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”
--Rachael Carson