Critter Day!

In an unusual turn of events, I left home before 7 AM this morning.  (On workdays I'm rarely out of bed before 8!)  The flowers at the botanic gardens were blooming in profusion and perhaps I'll share those pictures another time.  Critters became my focus today, starting with the first picture I took.

Guess the swans like to sleep in, too!  I roamed toward the English walled garden, then along the shore in the direction of the Japanese garden.

Sorry that one's a bit blurry.  Completely my fault.  The toad wasn't moving fast!  Just around the bend from the toad, a chipmunk scooted across the path, far too quickly for me to get a picture.  These little guys are everywhere; I see some every time I'm at the gardens.  Not far ahead was a bench.  I sat and watched.  My reward was a chipmunk approaching along a low stone wall.

Extra bonus was a second one (on the right) that I didn't know was there until I saw the photo.

Near where you enter and leave the gardens is a fountain.  The angle of sunlight was just right for a rainbow.  I took several pix from a distance.  When I moved closer I realized the cluster of photographers at the water's edge were not there solely for the rainbow.

The shore visible to the right is the western side of an island.  The swans were sleeping on the eastern side of that island when I arrived.

The swans continued on their way.

I headed off for iced coffee.