Chipmunk, Henne

i can't guarantee that this is the first Chipmunk, or, as my granddaughter charmingly used to call them, Chinkmunks, that has ventured above-ground in 2017. But it is definitely the first one that I've spotted and photographed this year. Actually, I'm surprised that one or two of the hibernating ground squirrels didn't wake from winter sleep, something they do periodically throughout the cold times they spend in their subterranean haunts, in late February when it was so warm, but I didn't see any, so this one, that popped out of a rock wall at the Henne Preserve and surprised the living daylights out of me, has to get debut credit for Tamias striatus. The Chipmunk is also a consolation prize: I'd gone to Henne hoping to substantiate persistent rumors of newly returned Tree Swallows, but the marsh and its collection of dead trees and their tree holes was devoid of the early birds. Of course, they'll be back soon enough. In the meanwhile, the Chipmunk was good enough to pose while it enjoyed the warming sunshine.