Over the last couple of months, the city (or some other civic body) has been clearing out some of the larger trees and deadwood from the Guadalupe River. This has mean that when I go on my walks, I’m now able to see more of the river, which in turn means I see more birds without having to walk long distances.

On today’s 1km stretch of path that I walked a few times (over 8,000 steps today), I saw a blue heron, grey egret and a couple of white egrets.

Noticing that there are still many trees whose leaves are in various stages of changing colour, it occurred to me that we do see fall colours in California. The big difference between here and in Ontario, is the time span of the change. The colours are much more dramatic in Ontario because all the trees change at the same time. We get a brief period of 2-3 weeks in the fall where the colours are spectacular. In California, a few trees start changing colour in October and throughout the fall various types of trees change and lose their leaves. The process is drawn out, making it much less dramatic. Interesting.