There’s something impressive about a mushroom bigger than a soccer  ball. These giant puffballs (Calvatia gigantea) appeared on a wooded hillside in Mount Lebanon, near a pile of decaying wood.  Squirrels or chipmunks seem to have been nibbling at them as they grew, which gives them pockmarked surfaces that make them look like asteroids.

A country road near Wexford, not yet lined with townhouse developments and strip malls. Milkweeds are turning yellow and maples are turning red.

Sunlight filters through yellow leaves on a wooded hillside in Mount Lebanon.

The fruits of a Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) often persist after the brilliantly colored leaves have begun to drop off.

A pond near Wexford reflects the autumn leaves.

Autumn colors frame a solitary jogger on one of the many trails through Schenley Park.

A tattered but glorious maple leaf in Schenley Park.

From his fortress high in the branches, this squirrel looks down with suspicion and scolds a long zoom lens.