Deer captured in downtown Toronto. Seriously, they had to taser it?

Today I was seeing red:

(Birders will recognize the silhouette of a cardinal there.)

Sometimes it's fun to set a little photography challenge to keep life interesting. Today I decided to focus on all the yellow things I could find as I walked in the valley. Here's a selection:

A view of the pond in October. The vegetation is dying down quickly now.

Look how big this leaf is! (Fairly normal-sized foot included for scale.)



The big dead tree on Marnie's Point continues to provide a home for all sorts of living things.

"Nature is, above all, profligate. Don't believe them when they tell you how economical and thrifty nature is, whose leaves return to the soil. Wouldn't it be cheaper to leave them on the tree in the first place? This deciduous business alone is a radical scheme, the brainchild of a deranged manic-depressive with limitless capital. Extravagance! Nature will try anything once ... This is a spendthrift economy; though nothing is lost, all is spent."

from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

Green spaces improve health!

Some snaps from Thanksgiving weekend:

Turkey vultures migrating:

Hairy woodpecker:

A late, well-worn butterfly:

A bookend to the frost we had on Victoria Day: