Ignoring the onlooker at Ponemah Bog, Amherst NH

See what this goose is doing? Right – it’s ignoring me. That’s amazing. Most of the urban and suburban Canada geese in these parts learn early that people will feed them, and they can be a nuisance. I came upon a gaggle on Ponemah Bog as I made my way around the boardwalk, and they were content to leave me alone when I stopped and sat on a bench for awhile.

Leaves on the blueberry bushes have turned rusty red, giving a hint of autumn. Some blue asters remain, and the odd-looking flowers of the pitcher plants are poking up. It’s been dry around here, and the boardwalk shifts underfoot only slightly without the squish one hears in the spring or after heavy summer rain. No bug repellent needed today, which was the most emphatic sign of all that summer’s almost over.