Although the loud drumming can be heard a quarter of a mile away, spotting the slow movements of the Ruffed Grouse might take a little patience during quiet walks. The grouse feed almost exclusively on vegetation and in the fall, acorns and soft fruits are a main source. In the harsh winter, their food becomes buds and twigs from aspen, willow and birch as they are able to digest foods high in cellulose.
Grouse on the Move
The white bark stands out against the colored leaves until time and the wind removed the autumn foliage and snow was the new white in the scene.
Orange and White
The sunshine helped make the day seem brighter but with the temperature below freezing, the snow hasn’t melted. A few weeks ago, autumn was displaying its color and it is hard to look at the white snow covering the ground now. The three mile hike through the woods was pretty with its fall foliage but it would have a different look in the winter.
Lost Creek in Yellow
The scene around this old church a few weeks ago had the autumn colors as a backdrop instead of the white snow that fell again today. Built in 1920, St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Herbster, Wisconsin, had its first Mass celebrated in January 1921 by Father Amen, who came with the mail carrier from Park Falls. With a dwindling congregation and a shortage of priests, the church was closed in 1992 and the bell was moved to the cemetery.
Old Church in Herbster
The snow is slowly melting and a few patches of lawn are beginning to peak out but haven’t revealed many fallen pretty autumn leaves yet.
Autumn Maple Leaf
Winter is still trying to push autumn away as more snow feel this morning. And although the wind has taken most of the leaves off the trees, walking a path coated in autumn foliage is preferred than the current white stuff covering the ground.
Walking an Autumn Path
The morning sky looked rather eerie when it was sleeting as it had a weird color to it before the ice switched back over to snow. I don’t like looking at winter when it should be autumn yet and the white I want to see are whitecaps and bleached driftwood on a Lake Superior beach.
Autumn Beach
The morning revealed a heavy layer of white stuff and the eight inches of snow weighted down tree limbs. Autumn disappeared as winter rushed in very early this year.
Autumn Disappeared
The morning started with pointy frost clinging to things, including this maple leaf still trying hanging onto autumn even if by afternoon, the leaf was weighted down with snow.
Autumn Frost
The poor petunia blossom is getting a coat of snow, but the amount today is small compared to what the predicted amount is for tomorrow.
White on Pink
