With the leaves changing colour, fall is a perfect time to explore the Bow River\u0027s glory.
A magpie among saskatoons and buffalo berries in the Bow River valley near Carseland, Ab., on Monday, September 18, 2023.In truth, though, the vast majority of it was still pretty green on the afternoon I went there last week. Stopping at my usual place where the road makes a sharp turn down into the valley, I could see a mosaic of colour with patches of red where the osier dogwoods and chokecherries had turned and individual trees here and there that were showing off yellow leaves.
Wildlife, the water birds and the ubiquitous deer, were all either scattered or just keeping still and quiet until the hubbub died down.Green ones, they were easy to find but as I poked around I found plenty with a tinge of colour, too. Backlit by the sun, those ones really stood out. But why do they change colour at all?The rising sun shines through the forest on the Bow River at McKinnon Flats near Indus, Ab., on Monday, September 18, 2023.
But there were plenty of yellow ones, too. Some of the cottonwoods and balsam poplars had begun to change as had the yellows and oranges of the roses and saskatoons. There was a bit of a breeze blowing and in between the roar of boat motors and vehicles crunching gravel along the road, I could hear them flapping and fluttering.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Poplar leaves along the Bow River near Carseland, Ab., on Monday, September 18, 2023.
There were geese flying around — no big flocks quite yet — and in a field of canola close to the river valley I found a trio of mule deer bucks. Two of them stood and stared across the crop at me while the third, the closest and biggest of the three, stopped eating, had a look in my direction and then went right back to eating.
Carotenoids and anthocyanins replace the chlorophyll along the Bow River near Carseland, Ab., on Monday, September 18, 2023.The undergrowth here was slightly different from that down by Carseland and red leaves were few but yellows were everywhere and they glowed in the morning sun. Here, out of the wind, spider webs caught the light and in that light, showed off what the spider webs had caught.
Something else that had changed was the presence of people. No more motor boats on the river, no paddle boards on the side channels, no dog walkers in the woods. All of whom are more than welcome to enjoy the river in their own way, of course.
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