A Perfect Fall Day, Moreau Lake

Fall days don't come any finer than this one: crisp cool air, a radiant warm sun, vibrant foliage, and a pristine mountain-ringed lake lying quiet beneath a brilliant blue sky. This was Moreau Lake on Saturday afternoon, when I walked the narrow strip of shoreline now revealed along the south and east sides of the lake.  All summer long, these shores had lain submerged beneath high water levels, but now, just enough of the pebbled sand has emerged to allow foot traffic beneath the overhanging boughs of the lakeside trees.

Sassafras saplings glowed golden in the shade of the shoreline forest.

Hop Hornbeam trees dangled their papery seedpods that danced and swayed in the breeze.

Spiraling tufts of slender green leaves revealed the presence of Small-flowered Dwarf Bulrush, a tiny flatsedge that thrives on the sandy shores of Moreau Lake, despite its status as one of New York State's most endangered species. Its chubby brown spikelets are another of its distinguishing features.

This wee little Pickerel Frog tried to hide beneath a floating leaf, then froze when I lifted the leaf, allowing me plenty of time to take its picture.

The sun was so strong today, I welcomed the shade of the trail that divides the main part of Moreau Lake from its back bay.

Maple-leaved Viburnum added its distinctive rosy-purple foliage to the forest floor along this trail.

A ray of sunlight caused this tuft of Witch Hazel flowers to glow within the dark shade of the woods.

Through the trees that lined this part of the trail, I could glimpse brilliant foliage reflected on the still surface of the back bay.

Ruddy Black Huckleberry shrubs form a colorful hedge between the forested trail and the sandy shore of the lake's south end.

Maple-leaved Viburnum leaves glowed as if they were afire, backlit by the late-afternoon sun.