WHISPERING HILLS: UNTIL NOON TOMORROW

I came down here to Whispering Hills at 10 p.m. last night and fell asleep to the sound of rain falling on the camper.

Water falls from the leaves this morning as a gray squirrel hops from tree to tree in a hurried search for acorns. It runs a branch-course in a leafless walnut before jumping into oaks across the road.

A breeze stirs the trees and more rain falls. The clean fall colors make the leaves look fresh and new instead of what they actually are.

A white-throated sparrow preens. A rufous-sided towhee repeats "wheep" from a low perch in a sassafras tree. yellow-rumped warblers glean insects from the elm north of the camper.

Bright sunlights fills every cavity it finds in the foliage and reflects off the wet leaves. Sumac trees form a low band of red. The sun rises behind two neighboring hickories; one is solid yellow and the other green. Orange leaves on the crowns of two trees glow against the blue sky.

Beads of water make the seed stalks droop on the purple top grass. A mist rises from the side of a tree trunk after the sunlight reaches it. This is only visible because the tree stands between me and the sun.

Poison ivy, Virginia creeper and wild grape vines climb the duo-trunk and lower limbs of the wild cherry tree behind the camper. For some reason the tree didn't have a single cherry this year.

Grapes hang in loose clusters, and poison ivy berries in tight ones. The poison ivy has lost most of its leaves. The grape leaves are fading to yellow-green, and the Virginia crepper leaves are bright red.

A Carolina chickadee eats poison ivy berries. Two gray catbirds eat Virginia creeper berries. One catbird "meows" in a dispute over ownership of the vine.

Two squirrels stay busy searching for acorns; occasionally they cut the tip off a branch and let it fall. I move my lawn chair for a better view. Two more squirrels sit still in the driveway, hoping to avoid my attention. One goes into the grass and the other out to the road. The one in the grass climbs the tree beside me, then jumps to the next tree and the next in a slow escape.

Three yellow-rumped warblers (see illustration) eat poison ivy berries. The birds are brown with streaking around a yellow patch on their sides. They have a light eyebrow and a yellow rump.

Yellow-rumped warblers are common winter residents in southeastern United States and occasionally to the Great Lakes. They can be found in woods, thickets and brush during migration and in the winter. In the spring the males are blue-gray above and have a heavy black breast patch. They have a bright yellow rump and a yellow patch on their crown and in front of each wing.

A male cardinal hunts for Virginia creeper berries, while the female eats grapes. A downy woodpecker visits the Virginia creeper next.

All of this before breakfast, and just think, I don't have to be home until noon tomorrow.

Kathy Phelps is a freelance nature writer and illustrator who resides in Harrisburg, Ill.