The autumnal equinox on Friday, Sept. 22 brings equal minutes of light and dark as we enter the fall season. Autumn is the older name, first recorded in the 1300s, for this season of cooler temperatures and shorter days. We also call it fall, a name dating to the 1500s referring to the fall of leaves. The full moon follows the equinox on Sept. 29, with very high, six-foot-plus midday high tides.
Indeed, leaves are falling from bay, oak and buckeye trees, and flashes of scarlet poison oak leaves enliven the scenery. The fuzzy brown “hot dog” is developing on the cattail plants in wetland areas like Olema Marsh. The last-blooming plant of the season is coyote brush, a low-lying shrub with downy yellow flowers. They have a male and female plant with different blooms. You may smell them before you see them, as they contain volatile oils whose fragrance is similar to a baby powder scent. The oils discourage animals from eating the plant.
Schooling fish have drawn brown pelicans, sooty shearwaters and a squabble (the collective noun!) of gulls to the seashore near Limantour Beach, with plenty of splashing and diving. The pelicans typically move south for the winter.