Several recent rainstorms have transformed our spring-fed streams from dry ditches into the gurgling joys that they were in the springs and summers of years gone by, as you see from this image taken yesterday:
The question is whether and/or how the drought and abnormally dry conditions of spring and summer in Down East Maine will affect our fall colors.
Severe drought during the growing season is one of the reported causes of deciduous tree leaves changing colors prematurely or even cancelling the color show and just turning brown and falling. Moderate drought reportedly has the opposite effect: It tends to delay the onset of fall coloration.
The best conditions for fall leaf coloration apparently occur when our spring and summer have abundant rain and our autumn comes in dry and cool, with sunny warm days and chilly (but not freezing) nights. Stated another way, we have not had optimal conditions for a lasting and brilliantly colored fall.
While we wait to see, we hope that our streams remain flowing.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on September 20, 2022.)