Black bears are gaining weight for the winter - feeding heavily on acorns and beechnuts, where available.

The mating calls of crickets and grasshoppers are in the air.

Monarch butterflies have begun their migration south. Most will spend the winter in Mexico, usually arriving there in November.

Usually by mid-September, the leaves of the red maples are just beginning to change color. The fall foliage season normally reaches its peak around the first week of October, although it varies a great deal from year to year.

Many songbirds, including the warblers, have begun their southward migration, although some will not migrate until a little later in the fall.

Hawks can be seen migrating during the daytime hours.

The purple New England asters will bloom during this time. The white wood asters and lance-leaved goldenrod began blooming in late summer and will continue to bloom into the early autumn.