Although fall does not appear on the calendar until Sept. 22, at 8:44 a.m., I have been seeing and hearing signs of fall creeping into the countryside.

With the first week of September having fall-like temperatures, a tinge of color began to show on the hillsides. However, after checking several diaries from years past, it appears as if fall is right on schedule.

I have noticed that the leaves of the sumac trees are starting to change, especially those growing along our roadsides, which is common for the sumac. In years past, I always thought that the highway department had sprayed the roadside areas with a chemical, causing the early change of color.

However, on closer examination, I noticed that only the sides of the leaves towards the roadway were changing, while other parts of the trees remained green. The reason for the sumacs’ leaves changing along the roadside might be due to stress put on the trees’ roots.

The staghorn sumac is one of the first trees to change colors in the fall. In early autumn, the leaves turn to either shades of orange, yellow, crimson or purple. All colors can be seen on the same tree, along with the green leaves that have not changed. The lower surface of the leaf keeps its lighter color until an early frost hits, and then, the underside of the leaf turns silver. There is probably no other tree that exhibits so many contrasting shades and tints of colors.

Staghorn sumacs have both male and female trees. One can tell the sex of a tree or clone (stand) of sumac trees by the fruit heads. Although the male trees do have flowers, it is the female tree that produces the bright red seed heads.

Therefore, if you see a clone of staghorn sumac trees without seed heads, they are males, but if they have seed heads, they are females. The fruiting head will become a compact cluster of red hairy drupes, with each drupe being about one quarter of an inch in diameter and containing one seed.

The sumac never seems to fail to produce a crop of seeds each year. The tree can live anywhere from five years to thirty-five years. The age is tough to determine because the plant reproduces in two ways. One is by the seeds (drupes), which are scattered by birds and animals. Studies have shown that after the seed has passed through the digestive tract of a bird or animal, it has a greater chance of germination. The other is from root sprouting.

You are probably wondering how a person can hear fall approaching. One day I stepped out into our backyard and heard the calling of blue jays from a family, of jays. This is an indication that the nesting is over for the year. To me the calling of the blue jay family is a sign that fall and winter are ahead.

Our blue jay belongs to the Corvidae family, along with ravens and crows. The genus name Cyanocitta comes from two German words: kyanos, meaning blue and kitta, meaning chattering bird. The species name of cristata is Latin and means crested. Therefore, the blue jay is a blue crested, noisy bird.

Its upper parts (crest, nape, back and tail) are colored a bright blue, with a prominent black necklace; a bordering white face, with dark eyes, and throat and underparts also white, all of which make a strikingly beautiful bird.

A raucous bird much of the year, announcing its presence everywhere it goes; however, during the nesting season, the blue jays become silent and secretive. So, when I begin hearing the blue jay’s calling, I know their nesting season is over for the year.

Although the blue jay was once a bird of the deep forest, it has learned to live near man. In talking to many people that faithfully feed birds, the blue jay is a bully and drives other birds away from their feeders. The blue jay also has a bad reputation for robbing nests of other songbirds; however, eggs and nestlings are only a small percentage of the blue jays’ diet, which is largely a vegetarian diet.

Another complaint about blue jays is that they empty feeders in a short time. Many seeds taken are stashed for later use. Of course, not all seeds will be found. One article that I read stated that a blue jay can carry 15 beechnuts or five small acorns in its beak at one time and will fly up to five miles to collect nuts. In one study done in Virginia, 50 blue jays collected and buried 150,000 acorns from eleven oak trees. They prefer to hide their stash near man-made objects or on barren lands, which results in re-forestation.

Some blue jays will remain in the same area throughout the year, while others move in a family group or small flocks of 50 to 100 or more going southward, some as far south as Florida. The blue jays return in the spring and usually to the same nesting areas.

James Whitcomb Riley penned these words about the blue jay:

“Mr. Blue Jay, full o’ sass;

In them base-ball clothes of his;

Sporting round the orchard jes;

Like he owned the premises”

Although I have always liked summer, this year I’m glad to see the leaves of the sumac trees starting to change and the blue jays beginning to visit our backyard feeders.

I know that more signs are ahead of us, such as the aster flowers and the yellow shafted flickers, which mean that we are heading for the two best seasons of the year, the harvest and hunting seasons.

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.