the signal

It's not so much that the colors of the marsh are changing. They are, but it is the light that signals the new season, the horn of plenty season for a marsh that seldom freezes.
It is a haven for waterfowl and soon it will host a couple thousand birds from places far away.
It is the light that signals this and it would have been a fine day to be in the water as the sun rose, but even so, it is good. The air is clear without the humidity of winter or the evaporation of summer and now the sun is swinging a low arc and taking much longer to find its high point in the sky.
Harsh light, strong contrast, long shadows - it is the sun of an arctic summer, it is the sun of my fall.