HorseandCart

It was chilly, but the ground wasn't wearing silver when I walked out to make my morning rounds. The foliage is still putting on a show, although the color action, which is moving steadily uphill, is now more about which leaves are falling rather than which ones are undergoing the change. That said, there's plenty of "foliage porn" to capture, and as the woods open up, it's easier to spy on the inhabitants. I got a glimpse of a small flock of Ruby-crowned Kinglets—alas, no decent pictures—and two sightings of a Pileated Woodpecker—same alas. The Hermit Thrushes were more cooperative, but as I huddled in the meadow grass and tried to be as invisible to the birds as possible, I heard the familiar "clop, clop, clop" of some large draft horses coming up our road. I turned and waited for the horse-drawn wagon to move into the break in the hedgerow, and when it did, I had time to compose a shot and fire. On this quiet and warming day, the slow pace of horsepower felt just about right.