At 10.40 AM (EDT) on Saturday, September 22, 2012 - to the disappointment of many but the delight of many others - summer officially ended and fall (autumn) began. And it was the hottest day of the past week or so... How's that work? Regardless, all signs pointed to the change in the season as the autumnal equinox arrived. As a small aside, the word equinox comes from the Latin words for "equal night," and the fall and spring equinoxes are the only days of the year in which the sun crosses the celestial equator.

A local nursery we have driven past on many occasion but never frequented decided to welcome the new season with an awesome creation made from some seasonal vegetables. Up close you see how intricate this is and how much time and effort went into building it. Hats off to Scotlyn's Yard nursery.

But, the change in the season also brings a change in the visitors to our yard as the cooler weather kicks in and they start their migration south. These past few days we've spotted a newcomer or two. They were skittish at best, so the images aren't great, but, as you can see, we were graced with Mr. & Mrs. Rose-Breasted Grosbeak - "Grosbeak" refers to its large bill, used to crush seeds, or so I believe...

 

We'll continue to document the natural world around us as the weather changes, so check back again soon. If you haven't signed up for our free email updates, you can do so in the bottom right of every page. By signing up, you'll receive occasional updates and extra stuff from In The Wild Photography via email. Or use our RSS feed to be notified of new blog posts - check here for details.