CHECKING IN AT RANDALL ~ UPDATE ON THE GARDEN ~ PARTING SHOT

CHECKING IN AT RANDALL

We decided to take a walk at Randall Park this past week, just to check in on how things are going there. The weather here in Yakima is decidedly Autumn now, with cool days and even cooler nights. Flowers and plants are starting to go through their fall transition into hibernation. Evidence of this was everywhere at the park. The leaves on the trees are turning colors and are already starting to fall off. This beautiful tree below greeted us just off the pathway. Nearby was another tree with gorgeous leaves.

Fall in Yakima

Absolutely gorgeous!

Captivated by more colorful offerings off the beaten path, we ventured over the little bridge across Wide Hollow Creek to the little nature trail that runs adjacent to the park.

Linda admiring the foliage

Some kind of tree with berries

Close-up of the berries

Eagle-eyed Linda spotted a couple of critters on the fallen-down branch of a tree beside the creek. They both didn't seem to even notice us, and flew away after a few minutes.

Painted Lady butterfly

Dragonfly

The walk along the nature trail is not very far from the paved pathway, but since it runs alongside the creek, the flora and fauna are much more varied than in the park. It was quite windy that day, so the sound on the videos is the wind in the trees.

We came upon another lady walking the path, so we stopped and chatted with her for awhile. We all were wondering about this peculiar looking plant we were seeing everywhere. She said that she thought it was the Milkweed plant, because they were abundant on the farm she grew up on in Minnesota. I took some pictures and Linda got a leaf, and we Googled it when we got home. Sure enough, it is Milkweed, which is the one plant that Monarch Butterfly caterpillars eat. Too bad it was so late in the season, any caterpillars would have already turned into butterflies. We will have to check it out next year during the summer.

Cottony substance produced by the Milkweed plant

Milkweed plant pod and seeds

Here are a few more pictures of the sights we saw on the nature trail.

Colorful Berries

The canopy above

Purple thistle plant

Cat Tails along the creek

On our way back from the nature trail to the park, we crossed over the bridge again and spotted these little guys in the creek, skimming across the water.

A walk at Randall Park would not be complete without a visit to the pond to check on the ducks and geese. When we arrived at that area, we were greeted by this!

Talk to the butt!

There were lots of Canada Geese at the pond. These large birds are sometimes considered a nuisance by some, but I have come to appreciate them for their beauty. Whenever I hear a flock of them flying over, I always stop what I'm doing and watch them. They really do not do anything to deserve their bad press because they are just doing what comes naturally. Below is a close-up I took of this one swimming around the pond. The detailed feathers are just gorgeous!

They really are lovely birds!

While at the pond area, we noticed one little duck who was searching for food by diving around the pond. He was smaller than the other ducks, and colored differently. Back at home, I looked him up to find out that he was a Western Grebe.

There's nothing like getting out into Nature to reset your mind and restore your soul. The troubles of the world just seem to disappear, which enables you to appreciate this planet and the amazing creatures that inhabit it.

UPDATE ON THE GARDEN

I'm sad to say that the garden is almost done. I picked the last ripe tomatoes this past week, and there are only a few small squash left on the squash plants. The cucumbers are still producing small ones, but I think the peppers are probably done producing anything of any size. Within the next week, Linda and I will pick all the produce and bring it inside to finish ripening. I will have to figure out what I am going to do with the remaining peppers, either pickle them or dry them and grind to powder. We will also dig up the rest of the potatoes and store them in our guest bathroom tub, like we did last year.

While out in the garden I checked on the asparagus plants. They are almost all turning brown now, but I was delighted to see several ladybugs on the pepper plant right beside the asparagus. Then I saw that there were still some of the ladybug caterpillars on the asparagus, but I looked closer and noticed that some of them looked like a cross between a caterpillar and a ladybug. These were in the pupa stage, which is right before they emerge as ladybugs. Click here for a link to a very interesting article on ladybugs. It seems that these ones on my asparagus are the Asian ladybug, also known as the Harlequin Ladybug. Too bad they aren't the more desirable native ladybug.

Adult ladybug stage on left, pupa stage on right

Close-up of pupa stage

I'm including this picture of a leaf I found on a walk to Kissel Park one day, just because I think it's beautiful.

Love the autumn colors!

PARTING SHOT

The other morning while I was making my coffee, I shot this video of our resident weirdo entertaining herself.

I'd like to give a shout-out to Alyssa Davis (from View From My Window Photography) for helping me today with some technical photographic aspects of the blog. That's all for this week, my friends. Join me again next week, same time (approximately), same place!