There is a somber dank to the heat of August. It gets us clamoring for the cooler times ahead. But rest assured the end is near right along with plenty of outdoor indicators to drive the point home.

For starters, the locust and buckeye leaves are already browning to their fall coloration.

Yellow flowering primrose and goldenrods are chiming in along the roadsides.

Joining the August ending parade are the pinks of Joe-pie and purples of ironweed, fall flowers all if you will.

And let’s not forget about that autumn crop of wildlife food staffs.

The trees and shrubs are heavy with their fall bounty. Wild cherries are weighing the limbs down. Elderberries and autumn olives are ripe and you can already see the lemon-like seed pods of buckeye that harbor their blackish nuts within.

The thumb-size red oak acorns and lime green walnuts are obvious too. The mast is looking good out there folks. But stay tuned for the statewide report right here as the fruit and nut surveyors get their data sheets compiled.

All that just in time for the highly anticipated annual mast and hunting outlook report.

And lest we forget, the daylight period is dropping some two minutes per day en-route to late September’s equinox and first day of fall.

Those equal (12-hour) periods of day and night sometimes fool our feathered friends into thinking it’s March out there. That’s when the spring kickoff features a sequel to those equal twelve hour doses of daylight and darkness.

Grouse may drum a tad more and male turkeys may gobble it up a bit in September.

Or just maybe, they’re glad to see the cooler weather coming too.

This summer’s brood (hen and poult group) counts for both grouse and wild turkeys are running roughly half that of last year and below their five-year average.

The lush rainfall induced greenery may just be providing more cover, making them harder to spot this year. At least we hope so.

Grouse are fond of wooded openings while turkeys will frequent wide open fields and strip reclaims in search of grasshoppers and seeds.

Grouse brood observations are oft far and few between and may not be much of a valid index anyway per the sheer difficulty in just seeing them.

On the other hand, turkey brood counts have been a pretty good flock predictor. Stay with us for the final tallies which won’t be bottom lined until early October.

On the local scene, the Chief Logan State Park Lake has remained full, blue-green colored and weed free the entire summer.

Regrettably, there is a littering problem from some anglers of all people.

Fair warning, the word is out and you will be cited. On the bright side, Mason McRoberts of Peach Creek Boy Scout Troop 23 erected three permanent benches along the lakeside trail for his Eagle Scout badge project.

The shooting range on the Corridor G side of the mountain is to be dedicated as soon as some sundry access road work is done. It will definitely be opened in plenty of time for sighting in those deer rifles.