As of Sept. 1, we have put summer behind us. Our vacation days are used up, the big yellow school buses are back on the roads delivering the students to school, and the college students are back in their dorms and starting classes.

We are aware of small signs of nature creeping into our lives that tell us that autumn is coming. Birds are starting to flock together; colored leaves are beginning to show on the trees, and morning fog is becoming a common sight.

To the unexperienced eye, autumn will arrive overnight. However to those who watch for such things, autumn creeps into our lives almost a day at a time. It comes in with the misty dawn mornings with a blanket of fog covering the ground, ponds and lakes. Although the fog persists against the weakening sun until late mornings, the sun will still be strong enough to produce hot afternoons.

September is our ninth month of the year. The name comes from the Latin word septem, meaning seven. On the old Roman calendar, September was our seventh month, but when Julius Caesar changed the calendar, September became the ninth month and had 30 days.

Autumn officially comes Sept. 22. With this past month of August having two full moons, the full moon of September will not occur until just after sunset on Thursday, Sept. 28. The moon will reach peak illumination at 5:58 a.m. Sept. 29, drifting below the horizon shortly thereafter.

The names of the full moons used by the Old Farmer’s Almanac come from several places, including Native American, Colonial American and European sources. Traditionally, each full moon’s name was applied to the entire lunar month in which it occurred and through all the moon’s phases, not only the full moon. However, the harvest moon is slightly different.

The harvest moon is not always in the same month. It relates to the timing of the autumnal equinox, which is on Sept. 23. The full moon that occurs nearest to the equinox is the moon that will be called the harvest moon.

This means that the harvest moon can occur in either September or October, depending on how the lunar cycle lines up with the Gregorian Calendar.

It is quite appropriate that the full moon during September be known as the harvest moon since September is the month farmers will begin to reap their harvest. Perhaps you have heard a farmer saying, “I opened my corn field.”

Now, I have often wondered what they were talking about, and after asking, I learned that they have cut or chopped the outer edges to make it easier to get the remainder of the field. Seeing farmers chop corn is a common sight during September.

September is also the month of many insects.

If you go out on a September night, you will hear a chorus of all kinds of insects, from katy-dids to crickets. The insect world, which has been building up all summer, peaks in September, with more clicking, buzzing, humming and chirping insects heard than at any other time of the year. Of course, this noise is made to entice a mate and make sure the species lives on. If the spring peepers’ concert in the spring is a harbinger of spring, the calling of the insects in September must be taken as a warning of things to come.

Although the nights are noisy, the dawn is quiet. Gone is the chorus of songbirds. The mating season is over, and the birds no longer need to protect their territories. A few crows or blue jays will be the only birds greeting you on a September morning.

By the end of September, we could receive a visit from Jack Frost. The leaves will begin to change colors, and by the end of the month, we will begin to see the leaf peepers arriving to view one of the best shows that nature has to offer. Jack Frost gets all the credit for this show, but cool nights and bright, sunny days bring on the best fall leaves. The truth is when Jack Frost comes early, the woodland show is not as brilliant.

Then on a still, cold September morning Jack Frost will come to paint the countryside white. When this occurs Mary Alice will pack up our summer clothes and replace them with our warm winter clothes.

If you take a walk in September’s woods and have a trained eye for such things, you will not have to look at the calendar to see that summer is gone. You will know because signs of autumn have begun to appear.

Perhaps Helen Jackson said it best about the month of September when she penned these words.

“The golden rod is yellow.

The corn is turning brown,

The trees in apple orchards,

With fruit is bending down…

By all these lovely tokens,

September days are here,

With summer’s best of weather

And Autumn’s best of cheer.”

Bill Bower is a retired Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Officer. Read his blog and listen to his podcasts on the outdoors at www.onemaningreen.com.