A Chipmunk pauses for a moment from his steady work of hiding away seeds to eat in the late fall. Chipmunks hibernate through the coldest months of winter.
Nature can be savage as seen in this picture from the top of Mt. Wilson in Los Angles, CA during the recent wildfires there. Smoke is illuminated by light from the fires in this night time picture from the Mt. Wilson tower cam. The towers of many radio and TV stations can be seen. The dome-shaped structure just to the right of the thickest stand of towers is one of telescope housings of the famous Mt. Wilson Observatory.
And nature can also be beautiful as shown by the work of this Orb Spider on a late summer morning.
We will conclude our series on the Rain Tree with these pictures of the maturing seed pods which will soon scatter on the wind. See the September and August editions for earlier pictures.
Butterflies usually peak in numbers in September but there have been very few this year. We had noted earlier that their numbers are down, especially the Monarch Butterflies. The only one we photographed this month is this Hackberry, and it appears to have had a rough life judging by the condition of its wings.