During an early October morning, I found myself along a medium-sized creek in Pike County. It was a cool morning, in the low- to mid-50s, but not too cold, and there had not been freezing temperatures in the area yet. There had been little precipitation in the past two weeks; the water level in the creek was low, exposing some rocks along the bank. 

I decided to walk along the bank and see what I could see, and perhaps flip some rocks along the shore. There would likely be some collection of small animals under or near the rocks, taking advantage of the still relatively warm water to stay warm in case frost did come a little early. It was early in the day for flying insects, but stream invertebrates were visible nearby; many invertebrates will be active in the water all winter.

Under the second rock that I flipped was a salamander, and continuing slowly upstream for about 30 feet and after about 15 minutes of exploring, were several green frogs, crayfish and myriad aquatic and non-aquatic insects. All the vertebrates were somewhat cold and did not dash or jump away as they usually do when the weather is warmer. 

After a quick photo of some of the animals, I gently replaced the rock, taking care not to crush any critters. 

Once in a while, I see a great blue heron in this portion of the creek, probably looking for a meal, and on warmer fall days, I might find watersnakes basking in the sun before they go into brumation for the winter (meaning that they go inactive in burrows below the frost line, but do not sleep).