Looking on the Bright Side

I usually try to look on the bright side.  So when the trees begin to loose their brightly-colored leaves and the snow flurries start to fly, I tell myself it's a good thing because now we can see things we haven't been able to see when the leaves were on.

Like the paper wasp nest that's been there for awhile, from the size of it, but that I'm just now seeing.

 The mallards that I would have been able to hear as I walk along, but now can see as well, since the leaves are gone.

This day, I am out looking for birds.  I'd like to see some of the birds I missed during spring migration or ones that I haven't seen during the year, that I normally do.  

So I check out every bird I see.  I'm hoping for a golden-crowned kinglet (but only see a ruby-crowned).  Also, hoping for a brown creeper.  Instead, there is a small flock of white-throated sparrows flitting along ahead of me.  They are pretty and I admire them thru my binoculars then move on.  

A little ways farther, I see something in a tree and raise my binoculars to check it out.  Turns out, it's not a bird... but a chipmunk!

A very busy chipmunk! 

He or she was really filling its cheeks with seeds.

It would really stretch out to reach them.

Then, after several minutes of collecting, it turned and headed for the ground.

Down it goes... cheeks full!

These are the seeds it was gathering:

My 'tree guy' identified it for me as hop-hornbeam.  The seeds are pretty small, it would be interesting to know how many the chipmunk was able to fit in its' cheek pouches.

I had fun watching this little chipmunk, even though it was not one of the birds I was looking for.  Later, back in the house, I was pleased to see-- right from our windows, a flock of warblers in our woods.  They were yellow-rumped warblers, which are common but still I had somehow missed them in the spring.  So, I did add a bird to our list after all.