Critters

[kayre]

Female redwinged blackbirds are normally the epitome of shy and retiring. Today, however, several were loudly, visibly and fiercely territorial. I suspect they're defending babies, maybe in the process of hatching?



Shrieking and puffing up to scare me away.



I was surprised to see this little critter--in fact I screeched to a halt and took these pics out my car window. It's a striped ground squirrel. I was taught they don't generally share territory with chipmunks, as they fill the same ecological niche, but unless one defines 'territory' quite narrowly, he's got chipmunks in the neighborhood.



Check out all those stripes!



Baby is still there-- moving from tree to tree within about 100 yards. I may have heard the sibling today, a few hundred hards away, but I couldn't find it.