Autumn in Missouri

Autumn is my favorite season of the year, so when the Rocket Mom challenge in late October was to write a lens based on one photograph I knew my choice would be something on the season. I was busy taking photographs all week and then toward the end of the week I went through the photos to find one that would best fit my feelings on fall.

Now I love many things about autumn; the cool crisp days, the beautiful color of the leaves and the squirrels and birds that gather in my backyard garden. This photo combines some colorful autumn leaves and a clever little squirrel whose antics have been entertaining my husband and me as he is successful in outwitting me to get to the sunflower seeds I have out for the birds.

In this lens I will tell you more about this clever squirrel and also show some of my other favorite photos from this beautiful fall week in Missouri.

photos by author-mbgphoto

I love to watch the birds at our bird feeders, but my husband and I also enjoy the antics of the squirrels. We have a 5 foot fence that stretches across our backyard and the backyards of our neighbors. All summer the squirrels have been running along the top of the fence and not even slowing down as they jump over each of the fence posts along the way.

To get ready for the winter season, I have added several new bird-feeders to our back garden. At first I had the largest bird-feeder that is full of sunflower seeds on a 3 foot hanger. The squirrel had no problem climbing up the pole and grabbing some sunflower seeds before sliding back down the pole to feast on the seeds. My husband and I watched him for awhile and decided we needed to move the bird-feeder or there wouldn't be anything left for the birds. I have a taller double hanger near the back of the garden and I thought this would be harder for the squirrel to reach. It seemed to deter him for a time but the next day to our surprise we saw the squirrel sitting on top of the double hanger eating a sunflower seed.

We sat and watched for a while till we saw how he was getting up there. It seems our clever squirrel would go on the top of the fence and take a flying leap to the top of the double hanger. He would then slide down the pole till he could reach the feeder as you seen in this photo. He did this several times as we sat at our kitchen table and watched.

My next move was to put a little oil on the pole hoping it would be to slick for him to hang on. The first time he went back he seemed to sniff at the oil and then backed down the pole. I'm sure he hasn't given up that easy, so I'm anxious to see what he tries tomorrow!

I love to view the work of photographers to get ideas for my photos.

I volunteer at the Butterfly House that is located in Faust park in St. Louis County. This week the colors were at their height and I took several photos as I was leaving from my shift. This photo shows the butterfly conservatory with a beautiful orange colored tree in the foreground.

I photographed these leaves in the outdoor garden behind the Butterfly House

A great place to discover autumn in Missouri is in one of the many state parks.