Figure 1 – Ferns giving up their color in October. Wilmington Town Forest, Wilmington. MA. (c) DE Wolf 2016.

When we think of the changing seasons in the Northeast, we tend to think about crocus in the spring and maples in the fall. Both shout out their message of change with vivid color. But I have noticed that the ferns seem more solid in their prophecy, The start as fiddleheads, but wait until spring is firmly established before they fill the forest floors with chartreuse and delicate leaves, delightfully illuminated by the sun through the canopy. And then they hold the stage through summer, creating what is both a fairy land and a primordial landscape. It is always worth a few moments to stop and study them. Like a character in Jurassic Park, your look nervously about for the tiny but ferocious and pirhana-like Compsognathus longipes. And then when you reach autumn, as we have now, you watch as these intricate old friends turn yellow and then brown. They are soon to disappear, and where they stood proudly, is soon to be covered in snow.

Fuji FinePix AX550, ISO 200, 1/30th sec at f/3.3, with no exposure compensation.