When I first entered my sot-spot, I was met with an unfamiliar silence. The usual sounds that surround me had all but silenced. The creek to my west was not babbling by and the surrounding birds were not singing their sweet melodies. I was slowly becoming accustomed to this new sense of quiet when a crash sounded through the air. To my immediate south, leaves crunched under the forceful impact of the unseen culprit and the branches in the above canopy quivered in fright. And then I saw it. A black twitching nose, darker than the dense forest it had come from, slowly came into view; and a feathery-light tail stuck up in the air like a triumphant flag, signaling the beast’s entrance into the area I helplessly sat in my spot as it approached. A grey squirrel had made its presence known.

This immediately drew me into the landscape before me. I had not yet seen an animal in my sit-spot, and to have such a bold and brash introduction to the animal life in my area thoroughly amused me. That event practically ushered in a completely different point of view. I had become hyperaware of my surroundings. Perhaps I hadn’t been fully tuned in when I entered my space, but I was suddenly seeing and hearing organisms in every single corner and crevice imaginable. Every which way I turned I was greeted with the red chest of a Robin. Curious as to why there was a rather rapid increase in the number of birds in my area, I decided to do a quick google search. From that, I learned that the migration pattern of Robins was actually at its highest during October. These robins swooped down from the sky above to rest on rocks and to leisurely sip from the lazily flowing stream below, a brief moment of rest that they most definitely deserved. Up above, squirrels, the ever-active creatures that they are, ran through the canopies, showering me in an array of amber and yellow leaves. It really was amazing to see my sit-spot so alive with life.

Squirrel Video

Although the animals in my area were practically demanding my attention with the amount of noise they were making, I tried to focus on something new for my auditory tuning. Instead of focusing on the muddled melodies of birds or the skittering of a nearby squirrel, I instead focused on the sounds of the wind in my area. Every so often I would hear the faint swelling of wind off in the distant south west. It was a gentle current, enticing leaves to part from their stiff branches and to instead whirl through the air in a carefree dance. As it swung from tree to tree, the wind picked up force as it neared. Branches above my head indistinctly scratched against each other, and the leaves, jostled free from their secure locations, erratically fell through the air, rustling against their surrounding on their descent. When I opened my eyes, I had a sudden awareness of the colors around me. The leaves were suddenly fiery shades of orange mixed with muted tones of umber and red. Autumn had begun its march into my spot.

The first plant that I looked up was a bush that I had never noticed before. It’s red berries stuck out amongst the bleak, green backdrop like rare jewels, and I was curious as to what it was. iNaturalist suggested that it was Fly Honeysuckle, which belongs to the genus Lonicera. Apparently within the beauty of the red berries lies a slight toxicity when consumed.

I then looked up the low growing, vine-line plant that I have been following for my past couple of blog posts. iNaturalist suggested that it belonged to the genus Vinica and that it could be the foliage of a Lesser Periwinkle. I highly doubt this because Lesser Periwinkle tends to have smooth leaves while this plant had rigged, slightly sharp edges. Lesser Periwinkle, assuming that that is the plant, prefers moist environments which my location would provide.

The last thing I looked up were these tiny, grey cylinders that were attached to a leaf near where I was seated. I had never noticed them before, and my first thought was that they were the undeveloped eggs of some type of insect. iNaturalist suggested that they were instead hatched mealybugs, a type of pest that is native to Asia but that has been introduced across the world.

Going into my sit spot today was quite the challenge. My mind was heavy with the amount of work that I knew I had to accomplish by the end of the day, and clearing my mind was a difficult task to say the least. However, once I was able to do so, I found myself so enchanted by my surroundings, namely by the new appearance of animals in my area, that I had completely forgotten about the stress I had upon entering my space.