My passion or slight obsession is getting to see as much as nature has to offer.

Birds, from warblers and gnatcatchers to raptors, they all give me a rush.

But I don’t overlook the rather common and varied insects we have around us, too.

By late August and up until the first killing frosts, most of the insects have matured, reached their adult sizes and are ready to reproduce.

Some, like a few caterpillars, over-winter as larvae but feed heartily now to prepare for that winter dormancy.

Other insects, like the praying mantis, have undergone numerous molts and increased their sizes all summer and are now mature and ready to mate.

Some, like yellow jackets or bald-faced hornets, have been finishing their lives, save for the queen.

Those queen yellow jackets or hornets will find a protected place to survive the winter. The queens emerge in spring, start building a small paper nest by themselves and then lay eggs they carried since autumn. That football-sized hornet’s hive you’ll find as the trees drop their leaves took all summer to enlarge to hold the increasing population of hornets.

Likewise, that yellow jacket queen will find a spot, maybe in your home’s fascia and, unfortunately for you, begin her colony in much the same way as the bald-faced hornet.

Now is the time most people find praying mantises. In June, a praying mantis may only be about an inch in size and hard to see, but after feeding and molting, a praying mantis may be about 6 inches in size. Actually, only the female will attain that size. Male mantises are about an 1½-inch smaller. And yes, sometimes after mating with the female, he may become her next meal.

Remember, that in most cases, the adult stage of insects is the shortest-lived stage. The purpose of adults is to mate and lay eggs so that generations of that species will continue.

Probably the best example of a short adult life is that of a mayfly. It lives under stones or gravel in a steam bottom, and after a year emerges as a dull colored dun, hiding briefly in vegetation near the stream. After a few hours it again sheds its skin and flies to join hosts of others flying above the water.

It then finds a mate, breeds and dips to the stream surface to drop her eggs. After the egg-laying process is complete, the spent female drops to the water and dies, maybe only living HOURS as an adult.

Back to our fall insects: Start looking for the easily identifiable woolly bear caterpillars as they finish feeding and move to areas to over-winter. They can produce their own antifreeze and stay alive, tucked under a rotting log or stone as long as they remain above 20 degrees.

Another very familiar fall insect is the brown marmorated stink bug. They seem to appear overnight at your screen doors, window screens, or flitting about your kitchens. They are looking to get in or somewhere else to survive the winter.

I hope this autumn is an anomaly. I have seen very few monarch butterflies migrating. Normally almost anywhere I drive or walk they are slowing drifting southward across my path. I hope this isn’t a bad omen of things to come. Was this summer too dry? Too hot? Or is their shrinking Mexican winter haven being even more damaged? (I’m hoping we don’t lose these beautiful insects like so many others.)

Get our there and enjoy even our fall “bugs.”

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: Besides the stink bug, what other insects will often “sneak” into your abodes to ride out the winter? A. lady bird beetles; B. house flies; C. both of these; D. neither one.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: The broad-winged hawk take center stage from Sept. 10 through about Sept. 23. In early October, sharp-shinned hawks become the predominant migrating raptor passing by Bake Oven Knob.

Email Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com