Signs of autumn

Field work has mostly been small uninteresting sites. So I got out early and ran over to check out the swamp where I released Cashew. The most noticeable difference was the overwhelming darkness at 5 pm. No turtles were out in the area I released Cashew and I only saw a handful of turtles at turtle mecca since some sun was able to penetrate the large open area. On the way back to my car, I was cornered by an old man who was determined to talk my ear off. We...rather HE discussed....Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Route 17 in CA, Jersey barriers, the people who invented Jersey barriers and the entire backstory, speeding and him yelling at speeders, California's central valley, Native Americans, Mexicans claim to CA, AZ, and NM, President Polk, Franciscans, how these five topics are related (I don't understand), his age, him being retired, him being in college 60 years ago, etc. I was powerless to escape since I was cornered against the info shack. I managed to escape when his wife left him the dust. She had been puttering around the area I had released Cashew and was heading towards turtle mecca. I guess she gets fed up with his endless talk. I rushed to my car and started the engine just in time to see him walk halfway back to my initial cornered spot. I was worried he was coming back for round 2.

The leaves are just barely starting to change colors. I did see that the winterberries are out. It's the pics on here. Winterberry is one of my enemy shrubs since I have a hard time identifying it without the berries. I did prevail once this summer but only after I had exhausted my mental database of all possible shrub candidates. Luckily the list was short that day and I feel like I might be getting a better handle on identifying it sans berries.