Sept. 12-18, 2011

How rich in color, before the big show of the tree foliage has commenced, our roadsides are in places in early autumn … with the profusion of goldenrod and blue and purple asters dashed in upon here and there with the crimson leaves of the dwarf sumac.
-John Burroughs

Lunar phase and lore

The Monarch Butterfly Moon, full on Sept. 12, wanes throughout the upcoming week, entering its last quarter at 8:39 a.m. Sept. 20. This gibbous moon comes up in the evening and goes down in the morning, moving overhead – its most propitious position for fishing – after midnight.

Lunar conditions for hunting are expected to improve at the second-best lunar time, early afternoon. Cool fronts of Sept. 15 and 20 should lower barometric pressure before their arrival, and that should increase feeding activity in livestock, game and dieters.

The waning moon favors harvest throughout the remainder of the month. The transplanting of perennials and the setting in of shrubs and trees are also suggested during this lunar period.

Taurus, on Sept. 15-17 will be ideal for those activities. Aries on Sept. 13-14, as well as Gemini on Sept. 18-19 could be best for trimming feet on livestock, shearing sheep, and all other kinds of animal maintenance.

Weather patterns

The fourth high-pressure system of September, due around Sept. 15, is followed by one the greatest shifts so far in the season. As the sun moves to within a few degrees of equinox, late summer’s grip grows measurably weaker.
As this weather system moves along the 40th parallel, brisk afternoons in the 50s or 60s are four times as likely as during the first week of the month. The mornings are chilly, and the possibility of a light freeze grows steadily.
Although the day before the Sept. 20 front is historically one of autumn’s warmest, when the front actually arrives, the likelihood of days in the 90s disappears all across the northern half of the nation. Even 80s will be gone there in only three weeks. The odds for an afternoon in the 50s or 60s this week doubles over those odds last week.

The season of light frosts deepens all across the northern half of the country. The chances of a light freeze become a minimum of 10 percent per night until the first week of October, when odds quickly increase. On the positive side, pollen season declines quickly after the passage of this weather system.
Daybook

Sept. 12: The moon is full today, intensifying the effects of the Sept. 12 cool front that often moves across the central and Southern states near the middle of the month. After this front passes through, the average percentage of cloud cover gradually begins to increase and the chances for colder temperatures grow more quickly.

Sept. 13: Take advantage of the feeble, waning moon for animal transport and maintenance this week. And transitions to academic life might be slightly less troublesome for students and teachers as the moon darkens.

Sept. 14: Early fall begins this week throughout the nation. This season has five to six significant cold fronts, and it lasts through Oct. 12. The danger of light frost now follows each front.

Major leafturn occurs on elms, cottonwoods, box elders, ashes and buckeyes, but most maples and oaks wait until middle autumn. Farmers plant wheat and harvest their corn and soybeans.

Sept. 15: Cedar waxwings migrate south down the rivers. Goldfinches, indigo buntings, kingbirds, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, bobolinks and woodcocks depart, too.

Sept. 16: Now trim hooves on livestock under the waning moon. Spray for fly-strikes and check for maggot infestations, too. Worm ewes to be bred at the end of the month, then keep them in drylot for a few days. Shear around the dock.

Continue to keep track of estrus cycling. Get rams and bucks up to date on all their shots, cleaned and shaved before breeding season. Give all your pets their flea treatments.

Sept. 17: Yellow jackets swarm in the fallen apples. The last brood of monarch butterflies has come out now, and swallowtails are more numerous, too. Bees are everywhere in the fields.

Sept. 18: Flickers, redheaded woodpeckers red-winged blackbirds, house wrens, scarlet tanagers, eastern bluebirds, robins, grackles and black ducks begin migration.

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