Leaf Peeping, and 2027 Calendar

“Leaf peepers” has long been used by Vermonters to describe fall foliage tourists, and is applied with varying amounts of derision. Perhaps some of us take our incredible fall foliage for granted. Certainly more than a few get grouchy about traffic and crowds, as we’re usually spoiled by the relative lack of both. But I think most of us can appreciate the influx of money into our little economy, and appreciate why people would travel to see this seasonal spectacle. As a born-and-raised Vermonter I can’t remember ever being anything but awe struck by autumn here. Witnessing the autumnal transformation of the forests, mountains and rolling hills I love gives me moments of rapture year after year. The more extraordinary the a sight is the harder it is to do it justice in a photograph. I don’t expect you to have a mystical experience viewing these photographs from my recent back roads wanderings, but I do hope you will enjoy them.

I am also announcing the release of my 2027 calendar. While the convenience off accessing photography online is undeniable, ink on paper is still the best way to enjoy a good photograph. This wall calendar is an inexpensive way to own prints of twelve of my favorite images from 2025 and 2026. Some of you already have a tradition of buying my calendars, for which I am grateful. If you’re new to my photography, or haven’t bought any printed material from me yet please know that any and all purchases genuinely support my work.

Scroll on for a bit of virtual leaf peeping.

East Calais, 09/30/26

East Calais, 09/30/26

Eaton Cemetery, Marshfield, 09/30/26

River Grape in Waitsfield, 10/01/26

Corinth, 10/01/26

Fayston, 10/02/26

And here’s the cover of my new calendar, a Barred Owl in a Paper Birch. This is an 8.5×11 wall calendar. It sell for $25, including shipping. You can purchase it from my website here: https://www.geraldlisi.net/store-1/p/2027-wall-calendar or contact me to buy directly with Venmo or PayPal.

Here’s the back cover of my new calendar. Wouldn’t you like to have these pictures on your wall next year? It makes a great gift too. Insert some other cliched sales pitch here.

That’s it for now, folks. I’ll be back with my usual natural history format around the end of the month. If you’re not a subscriber yet you can get all of my posts in your inbox by entering your email address at the bottom of https://www.geraldlisi.net/home. If you’re already a subscriber, thanks! Replies and forwards are much appreciated.

September in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine

September is one of my favorite months. The hottest days of summer have past, the sunshine is tempered with crisp air, and the cool nights are perfect for sleeping. The year’s last round of wildflowers includes some of the finest, and by the end of the month New England’s legendary fall foliage is nearing its crescendo. Birds seem particularly busy in September. Migrants are preparing for and embarking upon their southward journeys. Meanwhile year-round residents are reaping the plenty of the land before the onset of the lean months ahead. This September I watched Belted Kingfishers and Great Blue Herons hunt on Turtlehead Pond in Marshfield, Vermont and Casco Bay by Portland, Maine. I spent some time with Bald Eagles and Beavers while paddling the Waterbury Reservoir less than two miles from my home, and I sampled the beginning of the leaf changes in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Scroll on to see the evidence.

We begin with my paddle on the Waterbury Reservoir. I didn’t have much luck photographing either of the adult Bald Eagles of this mated pair at close range, but I did briefly catch them together in this one shot. Growing up in Vermont in the eighties there were no Bald Eagles to see. Living in the Seattle area from 1998 to 2024 I had the privilege of seeing them regularly. During that time they returned to Vermont, and many other places. This was thanks to Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’ and the subsequent banning of DDT in the ‘60’s , and to the passing of the Endangered Species Act in ‘73. Although Bald Eagles were just one of the neighborhood birds in Seattle I don’t take my occasional encounters with them in Vermont for granted.

Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus

This juvenile eagle is most likely the progeny of the pair in the previous picture, based on his or her presence in the same area and vocal exchanges with them. Bald Eagles don’t grow adult plumage until their third or fourth year.

The late-afternoon paddle that led to the eagle encounters above had me returning to my launch site at dusk, which afforded me a few beaver encounters. This was the first, and I was glad when the head peaking out of the water led its body to the side of this beaver lodge to munch on some willow twigs. North American Beavers are another conservation/restoration success story. They were extirpated across much of their ancestral range by the 18th and 19th century fur trade. Thankfully beavers were reintroduced to much of their range in the 20th century, including in Vermont (from New York and Maine populations) in the early 1900’s. While such efforts have been successful at returning this keystone species to parts of its ancestral range the current population across North America is 10 percent of its pre-colonial level at best. The profound ecological benefits of beavers is now well documented, and common knowledge in many circles. But like every other species oppressed by human hegemony they need more advocates. If you’re not familiar with the ecology of North America’s largest rodent the PBS Nature episode ‘Leave it to Beavers’ is a great place to start.

North American Beaver, Castor canadensis

I have found several populations of Bottle Gentian this year that I was previously unaware of. I celebrate every one of them. This was a favorite of my Mom’s, and I am similarly enamored with the blue of these blossoms. Apparently bumblebee species are the only pollinators strong enough to pry open these petals to access the nectar and pollen inside. I have yet to see this spectacle, but I watch for it at my local patches every September.

Bottle Gentian, Gentiana clausa

After the leaves of this northeast-native deciduous holly drop the remaining berries will demonstrate the name, ‘Winterberry”. Birds will eat them long before the winter has passed, and subsequently spread their seeds. Winterberry hosts the caterpillars of 33 species of moths and butterflies in Vermont.

Winterberry, Ilex verticillata

My latest lepidopteran “discovery” was this female Pink-edged Sulfur. Males have the same wing spots and edges, but are yellow. Blueberries are the larval food plant of this species.

Pink-edged Sulfur, Colias interior

Mallards preening and stretching. I had forgotten how amusing they can be. These are males in non-breeding plumage, which looks like female plumage. The olive bills identify their sex. They are bright yellow in breeding plumage. Females have orange bills with dark spots.

Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos

If you have spent time around Kingfishers you can probably hear this bird’s chattering call in your head. She is fishing on Casco Bay in Maine.

Belted Kingfisher, Ceryle alcyon

The rusty belly band that identifies this bird as a female is barely visible, and the hint or that color in the blue breast band indicated that she is young. Males have only the blu breast band, a rare example of females being the more colorful of the sexes in a sexually dimorphic species.

This heron’s hunting was interrupted when another heron had the audacity to attempt to hunt just a few hundred feet away.

Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias

Here the interloper is being escorted out of the resident heron’s territory.

Having vanquished interspecific competition, for now, the dibs holder alights on a seaweed-covered rock. The wingspan of North America’s largest heron is quite impressive. This individual is a juvenile. Adults have a long plume at the back of their dark blue caps, with white rather than gray faces and upper necks.

A family of crows searches the seaweed for tasty little critters at low tide. There were three other individuals. The seven birds are most likely a mated pair with the young from this year’s clutch.

American Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos , Knotted Wrack, Ascophyllum nodosum

One of many spectacular views along Kancamagus Highway (NH Route 112).

White Mountain National Forest

New England Aster doesn’t bloom in earnest until mid September. Its purple petals make it the most popular of our many native asters, but all are beautiful and very important to pollinators and other wildlife. In addition to the late season nectar and pollen resources they provide they host the caterpillars of ten species of moths in Vermont, four of which feed only on this genus.

New England Aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae

Marshfield Mountain seen across Turtlehead Pond. This is a favorite spot of mine, and is where I photographed the Mallards, Winterberry and Pink-edged Sulfur above.

That’s it for this time, folks. Thanks for your time and attention. I hope you feel that they were well spent. If you’re reading this on my website please leave a comment below. Enter your email at the bottom of my home page, www.geraldlisi.net, to get my posts in your inbox. If you’re already a subscriber, thanks! Forwards and replies are much appreciated. Please take care of yourselves, of each other, and of the land that you live on.

August ‘26

With August just behind us it is late summer here in central Vermont. Many changes will occur as we move toward autumn (and the season not to be named at this time). But for now I’ll share a look back at the photographic highlights of my naturalist wanderings this August. Although I spend less time trying to photograph birds than in past years I’m glad to report that some such efforts in August were fruitful. Along with those birds I will feature some favorite native plants and put a spotlight on a tiny sampling of the huge biological class of animals that is the insects.

Striped Sweat Bee, Agapostemon species, on Blue Vervain, Verbena hastata.
If "the bees" means honeybees to you then you're really missing out. There are 352 wild bee species in Vermont alone, four of which are Agapostemon species.

Primrose Moth, Schinia florida, on Common Evening Primrose, Oenothera biennis.

Primrose Moths were new to me in mid July, when I found one on a clients' property. Shortly thereafter I found one during a walk-through with other clients. As fun as this was for me and them, I was a little disappointed that none of the Evening Primrose at my place had them. I kept checking though and a few days later three showed up. One is pictured here. Evening Primrose is the larval host plant for these pink moths, and sixteen other species of moths and butterflies in Vermont. Evening Primrose is famously pollinated by moths from dusk through dawn as well. Primrose Moths are one of their pollinators, as are the awesome Sphinx Moths and Hawk Moths.

American Groundnut, Apios americana. This leguminous vine is named for the edible tubers it produces. It also makes edible beans. I haven’t harvested or sampled either, but this has been a favorite native plant since I first saw it. Just look at those exquisite flowers.

Female Ebony Jewelwing, Calopteryx maculata, on River Grape, Vitis riparia. Jewelwings are broad-winged damselflies who feed on Tiger Mosquitos and many other insects. They in turn are eaten by many birds, reptiles and fish.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Archilochus colubris, drinking the nectar of Orange Jewelweed, Impatiens capensis. Jewelweed is an annual of moist woodlands. Judging by the frequent visits for several weeks by bumblebees and hummingbirds is a prodigious nectar producer. I covered some hummingbird biology in my last post, including their pollination of species of plants with which they coevolved. https://www.geraldlisi.net/blog/2026/7/31/july-26

The white pollen of Jewelweed can be seen on the feathers at the base of this hummingbird’s bill.

A first-year male Common Yellowthroat, Geothlypis trichas, searches a meadow of Milkweed and Goldenrod for insects and spiders. He was born here just a few months ago. Like his parents he will return to Central America or the West Indies for the winter. Then he’ll be back here in spring, with a full black mask having his first go at making and raising chicks of his own.

Speaking of black masks, this young Cedar Waxwing, Bombycilla cedrorum, already has his or hers. But, the lack of red waxy tips on his secondary wing feathers reveal him as a bird in their first summer.

A female Baltimore Oriole, Icterus galbula, briefly watches me watch her before returning to her birdy business (most likely hunting insects).

Band-winged Grasshoppers, subfamily Oedipondinae, are conspicuous during their short flights because of their bright hindwings. But, when they land their forewings, which are camouflaged like the rest of their body cover their hindwings.

Barred Owl, Strix varia, in Paper BIrch, Betula papyrifera. While they are mostly nocturnal it is not uncommon to see Barred Owls hunt during the day. I have seen and photographed this species much more than any other owls, but this Paper Birch easily made for my favorites of my Barred Owl photos.

Searching the ground, where she can hear the tiniest footsteps.

Here the calls of Tufted Titmice have grabbed her attention. If they spot her their loud alarm calls will ruin her hunting prospects. Shortly after this she flew into deeper cover.

That’s all for now, folks. I hope you found some inspiration here, as I did in the moments that I captured with these photographs. The fate of wildlife, including wild plants, is in our hands. If everyone who cares about them helps to preserve and restore their habitats we can save thousands of species from extinction, and prevent ecosystem collapse in the process.