YOUR MONTHLY FIELD GUIDE
October
The Forest Lets Go
Southern Blue Ridge • Western North Carolina
October gathers on the forest floor. Leaves settle beneath the trees, fungi rise from damp wood, and countless small lives work quietly among the layers, breaking down what has fallen and returning it to the soil.
Meet This Month's Species
American Persimmon
Diospyros virginiana
A native fruit tree whose orange fruits ripen in autumn and become sweeter after the first cool nights of the season.
Red-tailed Hawk
Buteo jamaicensis
A broad-winged raptor that becomes especially noticeable in fall while soaring over valleys or perching along woodland edges.
Sassafras
Sassafras albidum
A distinctive native tree with several leaf shapes that can turn orange, scarlet, and deep purple as autumn color intensifies.
Dark-eyed Junco
Junco hyemalis
A small sparrow that returns as a familiar cool-season visitor, feeding along woodland edges and on the ground beneath cover.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
A migratory woodpecker that returns to mountain woodlands in fall and leaves characteristic rows of sap wells in tree bark.
Sphyrapicus varius
Brook Trout
Salvelinus fontinalis
A vivid orange fungus that grows in clusters on decaying wood; its gills can produce a faint greenish bioluminescent glow.
October Small Wonders
American Giant Millipede
Narceus americanus spp.
American Giant Millipedes wander slowly through the cool, damp places of the October woods, feeding on fallen plant material and helping return the season's fading growth to the forest soil.
Jack-o’-lantern Mushroom
Omphalotus illudens
Clusters of orange jack-o'-lantern mushrooms rise from damp, decaying wood in autumn, their gills sometimes giving off a faint greenish glow after dark—a hidden light easily missed by day.