This is the first time I’ve ever found two separate optical illusions in the same photo.
Yesterday morning began with a shiver. After so many weeks with valley temps at or near 100° and lows near 80° it was only 37° when I arrived at my first shooting destination in the mountains. In a short-sleeved shirt I wasn’t prepared to be shooting in the cold with my windows down so I was pretty uncomfortable for the first hour or so.
Things went mostly downhill from there. Lady Luck had abandoned me so I missed several excellent opportunities because of obstructing vegetation, bad timing or not seeing the bird in time. More about that at the end of this post.
But a cute little Least Chipmunk saved my bacon.
I’m only including this first shot because of how it deceived me, twice. I’m so used to seeing chipmunks with their tails stuck almost straight up in the air when I first looked at this photo just for a moment I thought ‘his’ tail was that thick branch seeming to emanate from his rear end and pointing upward. Then my visual confusion got worse.
Next time I looked the chipmunk’s right rear foot seemed to be part of the same branch instead of belonging to the rodent. In fact, even when I study it carefully that foot still seems to be part of the branch and anchoring it to the larger, nearly horizontal branch below it.
I dunno, maybe I’m easily amused after such a frustrating morning but that foot still looks like it belongs to the tree..
Anyway, a different crop of the same photo reveals where his tail really is.
He’d been scurrying around on that branch for quite a while when he appeared to take a little rest by laying down for a few moments. He never closed his eyes so he wasn’t taking a quick cat nap but he definitely seemed to be relaxing.
And then the stretching began. First his right foot…
and then his left. But this was only the beginning.
In a slow, languid stretch he raised that foot higher…
and higher until…
he couldn’t get another millimeter out of that stretch. I actually have several more photos in the stretching series but I’ve left them out for fear of redundancy.
The stretch is no big deal of course but it amused me after such a frustrating morning. My biggest ‘miss’ of the morning was a bird that landed in the same thicket of branches where I photographed the chipmunk.
It was a bird later confirmed as a Veery, a species rare in Utah and one I’ve never even seen before. I’d estimate that it was on the branch for less than 3 seconds and when I tried to focus on it there was a branch in front of the bird that prevented my autofocus from locking on so I didn’t press the shutter button. And then it was gone.
If I had a do-over I’d press my shutter button anyway. I’d much rather have a soft shot of a rare bird than no shot at all. But birds, being sticklers like they are, don’t allow do-overs.
Ron
Notes:
- Image techs for most of these photos are at or near 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 800 with my normal shooting gear.
- Early risers this morning already know that I did it again. I accidentally hit the “Publish” button instead of the “Save” button while I was still working on this post so if you clicked on the link in your subscription email my post was incomplete. Instead of disabling the post until I had it finished I decided to just go with the flow and let it happen. Not many subscribers open my posts before 6 AM anyway. As I type this it’s 5:47 Mountain Time and I’m still cleaning up my mess. Sheesh, what a morning!
I love all things living so the Least Chippie is a fave of mine along with horses, birds, spiders, snakes, and on and on. I love each of your postings and sharing.
I too, am thinking of Yoga stretches. He/she would have been so entertaining. I know I was laughing out loud as each new image would reveal itself with the Chipmunk stretched a little bit further. It’s foot does seem to come out of the branch.
Yes! Coming from someone who does yoga, it looks like the little Chippie is doing a downward dog….so we could call it, or I called it, a Downward Chippie!! Off the charts adorable, Ron…thanks for including so many photos of the series of the little one. We all need extra hits of all-things-adorable these days! 😀
oops, I misspelled my own name…
this post is from Karen!
sorry….
Yes! Coming from someone who does yoga, it looks like the little Chippie is doing a downward dog….so we could call it, or I called it, a Downward Chippie!! Off the charts adorable, Ron…thanks for including so many photos of the series of the little one. We all need extra hits of all-things-adorable these days! 😀
Your last sentence is so true. Thanks, Karen.
Downward Chippie… that’s cute!
That ‘munk is cute!
🙂
I would be more than satisfied with stretching chipmunk shots! 🙂 What a cutie. I needed this dose of adorableness today.
And 37 F looks wonderful to me. We’re supposed to hit triple digits and high humidity again this weekend with nary a cool down overnight. ICK!
ICK says it for me too, Marty. At least we don’t have your humidity.
It is 4.38 in the morning here, and nearly 52F. When first I saw your temperature I forgot the we use a different system and winced for you having such an obscenely hot start to the day.
And then I got to your other images and smiled. Broadly. I admire the little charmers flexibility too. Big time.
EC, I wish the entire world would agree on standards for measuring everything, even the passage of time. My camera clock is in military time and I have a hell of a time converting it to what I can understand..
Such a adorable little critter. Looks like he/she had clashed with a bit of mud.
It does look like the right leg was part of the limb. Good optical illusion.
Glad you enjoyed the illusion, Jean. Thanks.
Well, at the Veery Least you got some over the top delightful shots of this guy doing a high… four. I trust you returned the gesture.
Nope, I didn’t Lyle. At the time all of my digits were involved with other tasks.
What an adorable little being. I’m glad you had that redemptive experience. Sorry you missed the Veery. They are dreadful sculkers and very hard to photograph at the best of times.
Missing that Veery hurt, Sheila. I’ll very likely never have another chance at one.
Adorable. My husband apparently was a late bloomer in high school, he was small and had chubby baby cheeks even as a senior. A girl he had a crush on called him chipmunk, he was insulted by the name but I think chipmunks are cute.
April, at that age I’d have been crushed too!
What a precious little creature…especially the tiny ears. They have a lovely mix of colors in their strips. Yes it does look like a bit of early a.m. yoga. I really can not choose a favorite photo…I find something special in each one. 😍
I’m glad you like them all, Kathy. Thanks.
WOW! You guys are colder than us, and I thought our temperature was low in the upper 40’s for this time of year!
Great shots. Yes he/she is cute. And, I have to admit that I had a smile on my face after looking at and reading this post! Many thanks in a very trying time.
Stay safe!
“WOW! You guys are colder than us”
Dick, keep in mind that I was in the mountains when I saw that temp. But I was only at 5700′ so it was still quite cold for that elevation.
If you are a bird and wildlife photographer it is guaranteed there will be bad days. Yes, weather is changing and all of sudden I am not leaving at 5:30 am in a T-shirt and shorts. That is a really neat illusion with the chipmunk’s foot seeming to come out of the branch. Least Chipmunks are adorable little creatures and whenever I see one I definitely try to get some photos. Great time here in Prescott right now as migrating birds and especially wadding birds are everywhere.
Everett, we’re on a weather roller coaster. But the end of the week we’re supposed to have record heat again. How about a little moderation!
TOO much fun! 🙂 Optical Illusions can be confounding and, even when sorted, still tend to be “that way” in my mind anyway…… 😉 Glad the chipmunk saved the day! 67 and wind at 6 this morning – that was hardly the high Mon. GEEZ!
Yup, that sounds exactly like MT weather this time of year. I remember driving from Cut Bank back to Utah in the first week of September several years ago. It snowed the entire way until I got out of MT. It quit just a couple of miles south of the border at Monida.
THAT wouldn’t have been a fun trip AT ALL – the way it goes here….. 😉
Hi five! What a charming series… Chipmunks are truly endearing, and I think many of us have our favorite memories of being charmed and scolded by one of our little brethren… I remember a photograph that my aunt had taken of my sister when she was 6 years old. Annie was propped up on her elbows, as a curious chipmunk scooted up her chest and quizzically gazed into her eyes. My aunt lived on a tiny island on Perry Bay, and Soshee and her chipmunks were on the friendliest of terms.
Alison, that sounds like an absolutely adorable photo.
I didn’t expect to be laughing this early in the morning — what a wonderful series. I don’t know much about yoga, but he looks like he might be doing his sun salutes!
Shoreacres, I know virtually nothing about yoga but that name seems to fit. And the photos were taken not long after the sun came up over the nearby mountains.