Wasn't it just the Easter weekend? Oh, I guess that was four months past already. Even though the thermometer still reads the middle 80s, autumn is throwing some hints our way. If you use your nature "senses" you may have noticed a few. If not, I'll toss in some reminders of the soon arriving fall season.

The male robin'sspirited and nearly constant singing that awakened you before dawn in April through mid-June, has ceased. In fact, most of the robins in our backyards have already "left" and in post-breeding dispersal moved to more forested areas. As you may know, that singing isn't done just because he feels upbeat. It is used to mark his territory. The robin sings to deter intruders from his turf, but now with nesting all but finished and diminishing hormone levels, there is no need to stake claim to your yard anymore. That is one clue of a season change. Did you catch it?If you live near, or drive regularly near a farm, you may be familiar with barn swallows. They returned to our area in early April, found mates, and probably raised two broods. By the time you read this article they are beginning to prepare for their long migration again. You may notice dozens perched on utility lines, both adults and the young of the year. I'd like to think that they are saving their energy until that "cold front" moves through and mysteriously the next morning they are gone.My records over the past 30 or 40 years list the average dates of their departure between Aug. 15 and 19. You can probably expect that again this year. I know when I see them "lining up" on the wires that autumn is not far behind. Check it out for yourself this week.Probably by the time next Saturday's edition is published, they will be well on their way to Argentina. They don't have a pocket calendar, but they know by the shortening daylight hours that it is time to move on.Plants can give you some hints as well. It was gradual, but you may have noticed that the hardwood tree leaves just don't seem to have that beautiful, healthy deep green look anymore. They are gradually losing some of their chlorophyll (leaves' green pigment) again in response to the shortening daylight hours.You won't see the drastic fall color changes yet, but a few plants will give you the first hints. Virginia creeper, sometimes mistakenly identified as poison oak, rapidly loses it chlorophyll, and by mid to late August, will soon be sporting very red leaves. You can find Virginia creeper commonly vining its way through your shrubbery, or as in the photo, climbing utility poles or brick walls near your home. Autumn keeps reminding us that it's on its way.Chicory (blue flowers along roadsides), Joe Pye weed, black-eyed Susans, and the numerous goldenrod species are all giving us the clues of autumn's all too-soon arrival. If you fly fish throughout the summer you may now notice a beautiful red spike of flowers blooming along your favorite trout streams. These cardinal flowersare fall bloomers, and you now know that autumn is near when they splash the stream banks with that cardinal red color. Hopefully you have noticed a few of these signs. If not: "keep those eyes and ears open out there."Test your knowledge: A white-tailed deer has a gestation period (time from conception until birth) of 201 days; an opossum has a gestation period of _______. A. 160 days, B. 120 days, C. 65 days, D. 12 daysLast week's quiz answer: Biologists estimate that about 45 meadow voles can be found in a 1-acre field. Luckily for farmers, we have so many predators that make the meadow vole (mouse) their favorite prey animal.Contact Barry Reed at

breed71@gmail.com.