Autumn in North Chagrin Reservation

Hello people! Is anyone in the mood for some “leaf peeping?” I’m heading out to check on the fall color in North Chagrin Reservation. It’s a beautiful, warm, sunny-blue-sky day here in Ohio, so, if you want to come with me, you can leave your jacket behind. Cold weather will arrive soon enough, so let’s go out and enjoy the gift of today.

I don’t have time for a long walk, but it’s such a beautiful day, I’ve got to get outside and take some pictures. There’s still plenty of green to be seen (thankfully), but reds, yellows, and oranges are beginning to show up midst the greenery. I was hoping to find a great blue heron or a green heron willing to pose today, but no such luck. The GBH raised my hopes when he did a fly-by. Announcing his presence with a loud croaking voice, he swooped over the marsh and disappeared from sight. Yep, totally disappeared. To my disappointment, I couldn’t find him anywhere. There was a turtle that posed and a few ducks too, but the star of the day was the Autumn leaves.

North Chagrin

Sunbathing at North Chagrin

Cooler nights are on tap by mid-October, and then the brilliant Autumn hues will (hopefully) put on their annual show here in northeast Ohio. Why don’t you plan to join me on another trail walk in North Chagrin next week. Meanwhile, we’ll do some leaf-peeping in the Arboretum and maybe along the Lake Erie shoreline. Fall is the BEST time of year in our neighborhood…at least in my opinion it is. If you have any thoughts about that, feel free to leave them in the comments.

One more thing to show you before it’s time to head for home today: a snake. I read on a sign posted by the marsh that there are five or six species of snakes living here, none of them poisonous and some of them positively beneficial for the environment. However, the only snake I saw today was this one that the kids like to climb on:

According to the sign posted behind him, he is one of the harmless snakes. I’m thankful for that! How about you?

Thanks for joining me for today’s trail walk. It’s always good to have company.

See you soon!
Trail Walker