Yesterday I shared a photo and video clip of a male American Goldfinch on a Musk Thistle and today I am sharing photos of a Least Chipmunk in a Utah Serviceberry that were taken just moments after the goldfinch flew off. The serviceberry shrub was a few feet away from the thistle and some movement in the shrub caught my eyes then I spotted this chipmunk climbing in the shrub. Had I not already been stopped to photograph the goldfinch I would have missed this little chippie entirely.
Least Chipmunk in a Utah Serviceberry Shrub – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I’m always happy to photograph the other things I see while I am out photographing birds and that includes cute critters like this Least Chipmunk nibbling on the fruits of the Utah Serviceberry shrub. Yesterday I saw plenty of chipmunks but this chippie was the only one I was able to take photographs of. I enjoyed watching it scramble around in the shrub looking for the perfect berries to eat. Just a few weeks ago these shrubs were flowering and already the fruit has set and is ripe or is in the process of ripening. The berries turn red when ripe and the darker they are the more they have ripened.
Least Chipmunk nibbling on a Utah Serviceberry berry – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I am quite happy with the photos I took of this Least Chipmunk even though the setting is a little busy. I’ve loved seeing and observing chipmunks for as long as I can remember and I am thoroughly delighted that I can photograph them whenever I see them now. I hope that before winter arrives I will be able to take many more images of the chipmunks I find in the canyons of the Wasatch Mountains.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Least Chipmunk photos plus facts and information about this species.
These little saboteurs undermine our front patio, dig up my flowers, make big holes in my mulch and throw it out of the container planting….but I still like them…(a few come when called to get peanut handouts)….some are very polite and some are grabbers…Some hold on so tightly I can lift them right off the ground still holding on to the peanuts…
Love the charmer – and am perfectly happy with the ‘busy’ scene too.
Very cute, but they are a pain in rehab. Anything their head can fit through the body follows. When bottle feeding them they get so excite it is almost impossible to hold them during the feeding. They can run around your hand and body in an instant, they tend to pee every tenth of a second and nip so by the time you catch it up you are well scented and can feel about 10 nips on your body. All of this might occur in a 20 second time frame.
Chipmunks, lots of fun.
Very cute!
They are cute little animals….Thanks Mia…and you’re right…Life is good!
Adorable! I just love their little “racing stripes!”