Managed to get up slightly earlier than usual today and got out to the garden just before 7:30am. Absolutely perfect temperature, somewhere in the mid 60s and only needed a light jacket (which I happened to buy in Chicago recently! Score!).
Major difference in sounds from previous mornings! Lots more chipmunk sounds– and in fact I saw lots more chipmunks, too. Fairly blasting my eardrums with noises (birds, chipmunks, cicadas, etc.) and only very minimal human-neighbor noises this time.
Did a lot of chipmunk-watching. The easiest way to spot chipmunks was to look where the sounds were coming from, and then watch for moving branches. Eventually I was able to make out little chipmunk shadows racing around, and it was fun to watch them scream at each other.
Even more exciting was the chipmunk(s) who came close to my chair. One even went to far as to run UNDER my chair, after we accidentally made eye contact.
Spotted several birds of unknown type, but probably finches, of various colors (yellow, brown, black/white). Also saw a bright red one, larger than a finch but doesn’t seem large enough to be a cardinal. Some small white butterflies visiting flowers, and ants investigating my coffee mug per usual. (No worries: I have a silicone mug cover to keep curious insects out from my coffee.)
Later, after heading back inside to my temporary writing desk, the groundhog ventured out and snuffled around some bushes looking for food.
