Autumn

     The leaves are about 50% changed, with vibrant yellow, red and orange maples being the predominant color so far. The dry summer and a couple light frosts have made for an excellent leaf season, as contrasted with last years rain which had the leaves turning brown and falling early. Depending on storms and winds things can change overnight, so waiting for a 'peak' is sometimes risky if one is planning a vacation.The pond in the picture is one of a dozen at Buzzard Swamp, dug decades ago and now being filled with silk. Beavers have assumed residence and built their 'dam' across the spillway over which the gravel access road was constructed. The beavers lodge can

be seen in the distance by zooming in past that path through the algae. Beavers are mostly nocturnal although I have seen them swim past me while fishing in daylight. 

     These are the first pictures I have taken with a new Fujifilm Finepix XP130 camera I bought for $130 to replace a Canon SX720 camera that stopped working when perspiration entered the camera as I was carrying it while climbing a mountain. An earlier Panasonic point and shoot camera also stopped working from what I thought was  a minimal amount of water, so this time I've opted for a 'waterproof/shockproof' model. We'll see if that makes a difference. I have a larger SLR camera that takes excellent pictures but is too bulky for hiking, so I need a portable camera. So far this Fuji seems to take better pictures than the more expensive and more highly rated Canon, so listening to the 'experts' is not always helpful. The sole advantage of the Canon was a better zoom lens, but the pictures always seemed a bit blurry and the camera had a hard time focusing.