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Fall Is in the Air

Oct 5, 2012 |

The autumnal equinox took place on September 22, marking the end of summer and the start of fall across the Northern Hemisphere. Autumn is the season of harvests, festivals, migrations, winter preparations, and of course, spectacular foliage. Across the north, people are beginning to feel a crisp chill in the evening air, leaves are reaching peak color, apples and pumpkins are being gathered, and animals are on the move. Collected here are some early images from this year's autumn -- more will come later as the season unfolds. [36 photos]

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Autumn colors and mountains of the Teton Range, photographed in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, on October 4, 2012. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)

Alexander Kempt paddles past the Baroque Palace in a hollowed out pumpkin as he takes part in the German Pumpkin Boat Championship on September 16, 2012 in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The 40 participants of the competition may either use one of the pumpkin boats furnished by the organizers or are allowed to use a self-made boat constructed of a pumpkin weighing 200 kilograms or more. (Bernd Weissbrod/AFP/Getty Images) #

A girl throws leaves in the air at the estate of Mariendaal in Arnhem, Netherlands, on September 30, 2012. (Robin Utrecht/AFP/Getty Images) #

Autumn colored trees in Schoenau at the Koenigssee lake, near the southern German city of Berchtesgaden, on October 2, 2012. (Reuters/Michael Dalder) #

Grapes of Chasselat, in a container during the first days of the grape harvest in the Lavaux region in Chexbres, on October 2, 2012. Chasselat for white wine and Pinot Noir for the red are the most popular grape varieties produced in the UNESCO Heritage listed Lavaux vineyard which is made of 10,000 terraces, which were started in the 12th century by monks. (Reuters/Denis Balibouse) #

Pumpkins await shoppers in a field near Munich, Germany, on September 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) #

Shepherd Pierre Deval walks in the Queyras valley in Arvieux in the Hautes-Alpes region of south-eastern France, on September 14, 2012. Not far from France's glitzy ski resorts Deval leads his 1,600 sheep across Alpine pastures guarding his charges against predators and infection, and most importantly, ensuring that none are left behind. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images) #

Stars shine above the cabin used by shepherd Pierre Deval in Arvieux, France, on September 14, 2012. (Ed Jones/AFP/GettyImages) #

Russian President Vladimir Putin flies in a motorized hang glider alongside two Siberian white cranes, on the Yamal Peninsula, in Russia Wednesday Sept. 5, 2012. Putin took part in a flight as part of a program devised by environmentalists to lead the endangered cranes, which were raised in captivity, on their migration to Asia. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Presidential Press Service) #

A hot-air balloon flies over the city of Godewaersvelde, northern France, as the sun rises, on September 30, 2012. (Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images) #

Visitors enjoy the evening inside the "Augustiner" beer tent at the famous Bavarian Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich, Germany, on October 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) #

Women wearing traditional Bavarian Dirndls pose with beer mugs during Oktoberfest in Munich, on September 27, 2012. Oktoberfest will run until October 7, 2012. (Christof Stache/AFP/Getty Images) #

Colored leaves hang from a cherry tree in Kassel, Germany, on October 2, 2012. (Uwe Zucchi/AFP/Getty Images) #

Bavarian farmers transport their cows on a boat over the picturesque Lake Koenigssee at dusk, on October 3, 2012. Before the winter season approaches the farmers have to drive their cattle down from their Alpine meadows to a narrow valley that can only be reached by boat. (Reuters/Michael Dalder) #

Children sit on top of a police vehicle as they watch a fireworks display as part of China's Mid-Autumn festival in Shanghai, on October 3, 2012. (Reuters/Carlos Barria) #

Starlings gather on a high voltage electric wire prior to their seasonal migration in Strazeele, northern France, on October 1, 2012. (Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images) #

A couple enjoy sunny autumn day in the Tsaritsino estate in southern of Moscow, Russia, on September 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel) #

Fall foliage begins to appear in the White Mountain National Forest, on September 28, 2012 in Jefferson, New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Jim Cole) #

Women squash grapes with their feet in traditional style during autumn harvest celebrations and young wine preparations in Aliman village, some 240 km east of Bucharest, on September 28, 2012. (Reuters/Radu Sigheti) #

More than 1,000 buffalo thunder across prairie land during the 47th annual Buffalo Roundup in western South Dakota's Custer State Park, on September 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Kristi Eaton) #

Autumn-colored oak leaves in the Elz River near Emmendingen, Germany. (AP Photo/Winfried Rothermel) #

People walk on a pavement covered with leaves at the place de la Concorde in Paris, on September 22, 2012. (Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images) #

Vegetable gardener Peter Glazebrook gets admiring glances as he wheels his giant cabbage weighing 81 lbs, 6 oz, through the annual Harrogate Autumn Flower Show on September 14, 2012 in Harrogate, England. Glazebrook, from Newark, won all six classes in the giant vegetable competition during the show at The Great Yorkshire Showground. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) #

Morning mist rises from the valley between the sandstone bridge Basteibruecke and the Lilienstein mountain near Rathen, Germany, on October 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Joern Haufe) #

A pair of unicyclists ride under fall leaves along a bike trail by Minnesota Drive in Anchorage, Alaska, on September 24, 2012. (AP/Dan Joling) #

A farmer parades his herd on his way to the Desalpe near Charmey, on September 29, 2012. The Desalpe is a traditional annual Swiss festival marking the descent of cattle herds from their summer Alpine pastures to valleys at the beginning of autumn. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images) #

Two men prepare to weigh an Atlantic Giant pumpkin (Curcurbita maxima) during the Bavarian pumpkin championship on September 29, 2012 in Schwabenhausen, Germany. The award comes with a cash prize of 600 euros. (Peter Kneffel/AFP/Getty Images) #

Canada geese rise in flight out of a bay on Big Rideau Lake in Portland, Ontario, on September 29, 2012. (Reuters/Gary Cameron) #

A fallen autumn leaf rests with raindrops on the hood of a car in London, England, on October 1, 2012 (Reuters/Luke MacGregor) #

A picture taken from the mountainous Srinagar-Leh highway shows newly snow-covered mountain peaks at Zojila, 108 km (67 miles) east of Srinagar, on October 4, 2012. A foundation stone laying ceremony for a tunnel on 443 km (275 miles) long highway connecting Kashmir with the Buddhist-dominated Ladakh region was held by the authorities in Sonamarg on Thursday. (Reuters/Fayaz Kabli) #

A cow grazes on a meadow near Maierhoefen, Germany, on a sunny and mild September 28, 2012. (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/AFP/Getty Images) #

A woman and girl pick up fallen leaves in a park in Minsk, Belarus, on October 4, 2012. (Victor Drachev/AFP/Getty Images) #

Leaves along the Androscoggin River are at peak color in Berlin, New Hampshire, on September 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Jim Cole) #

A red deer bellows during the annual rutting season in the Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig, Scotland, on October 5, 2012. (Reuters/Russell Cheyne) #

A couple ride their bicycles during an autumn day in Moscow's Izmaylovsky Park, in Russia, on September 27, 2012. An exhibition and entertainment complex imitating the architecture of old Russian churches and palaces stands in the background. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel) #