September return to the Woods.

Nice 'cold front' rolled through and dropped temps to 80's and low 90's F.
I decided to catch up on deferred trail maintenance and started about 9 am at the SW Gate. I carried paint to refresh all the trail blazes. By 2 o'clock I'd finished walking 90% of all the trails. I cleared branches and fallen tops all along the way and did the blue blazes. Good to have the fresh paint for late evening navigation after sunset. More visible in low light or near darkness.
By the NW Pond I spotted one box turtle near the jct with the Ravine Trail. There was an immature great blue heron looking for lunch standing on the west side of the pond. Did not fly for several minutes with me watching. There were two groups of white tailed deer: three west of the beaver dam running north into the Woods; and one group of two west of the Wash near Island crossing. The pool above Island Crossing had dried to mud. There was still a pool of very muddy water in the Wash by the big mimosa tree; one buck ran from there as I approached. Mosquitoes not bad, a little annoying along the West Trail.
The sedges were all flattened along the Big Tree Grove trail by the leaning willow. It looked like this was where the deer were sleeping. Big green ash tree # 506 still has sweet fermenting flux down the trunk, today with a dozen green calliphorids, several Camponotus carpenter ants and one Polistes wasp.
I did not do the Northern Rim or the Ravine Trail. Another day..
Approaching the SW Gate as I was leaving, the air was perfumed with good sweet smell of Clematis, in full bloom along the edge of the Woods.
Only spotted two seed ticks when I got home and showered.