3 October 2022
The hardest thing to notice in Nature is the date of an absence. When did the last junco leave in the spring? When did the last groundhog go into hibernation?
Right now eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) are busy gathering nuts to store in their underground burrows for the winter. As the season changes and temperatures drop they will disappear into their burrows to enter torpor, sleeping off and on through the winter.
The warm winters of climate change can fool them into not entering torpor but the result is deadly. Only 10% survive. Find out why in this vintage blog:
Meanwhile I will hope our chipmunks disappear and will try to figure when they do it.
Here’s how I notice an absence: I write down every day when I do see them and then scan my notes for days when I’ve not logged them anymore.
(photo from Wikimedia Commons; click on the link to see the original)
I saw one yesterday during a 90 minute walk
I’ve still been seeing chipmunks madly dashing across the road in front of my car and “chipping” outside of our window (and I can’t figure out why, there doesn’t seem to be any danger around). One thing this morning, I heard a white-throated sparrow, which would be the first winter bird I’ve heard/seen this autumn.