Chipmunks | The Beauty Around Us

Back Yard Photos

This week, on nice days, I began walking around our back yard and three of our neighbor’s back yards (with permission). I carry my camera with me.

Sue’s Primose

Chipmunk on Greg and Mary’s Bird Feeder

This is the first Baltimore Oriole that I have seen this year.
I haven’t seen any hummingbirds … yet.
These bird feeders are in our back yard.

I plan to share more back yard photos, from time to time, with you.

I’ve Spotted the Female, but Not the Male

Each year, in May, I watch for the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak’s arrival. It is such a pretty bird and larger than my usual backyard birds.

I saw the female grosbeak, for the first time, this year this morning.
I have not yet seen the male grosbeak.

I have just started to see chipmunks again too. I’m not seeing as many chipmunks as I have in past years. We have a few feral cats in the neighborhood. Perhaps the cats are helping to keep down the small critter population.

I see you.
I’m a brave little chipmunk, though.

See? I’ll climb to the bird feeder, while you watch.

Valerie’s Backyard Critters

As mentioned here a few backyard critters visited Valerie and I, while we chatted on her deck this past Tuesday.

Gray Squirrel

The gray squirrel paused only momentarily before deciding it was safe to come up on the deck.

The baffle provided a good perch for the gray squirrel to reach the bird feeder.

Red Squirrel

The appearance of the red squirrel surprised me. I had heard that red squirrels chased away gray squirrels. These two have lived in close proximity for some time now, according to Valerie.

Red Squirrel

Chipmunk

I didn’t mind sharing the deck with the squirrels and chipmunk.

This wasp, however, was not a welcome visitor!

Birds and a Chipmunk

Here are some of the birds and a chipmunk that have visited our yard since the beginning of the month.

Male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

Chipmunk

White-Crowned Sparrow

Grackle

Cedar Waxwing

I didn’t know the identity of the cedar waxwing, when I snapped its picture. I asked Bob if he could find out the bird’s identity. He has a bird identification app on his iPod and was readily able to identify the bird for me.

I’ve seen a Baltimore Oriole a couple times; however, he hasn’t hung around long enough for me to photograph him. I hope one day that I will be able to share a picture of a Baltimore Oriole with you!

What a Cute Fellow!

I was sitting on our front porch, camera in hand, listening to one of my audio books. I caught movement to my left, out of the corner of my eye. This chipmunk had climbed to the top of our hedges, underneath the bird feeder that is hanging on one of the windows. The chipmunk certainly looks like he is enjoying the bird feed that the birds drop when they are feeding.