Wildlife watching

We are so lucky to live where we do. While we desperately need rain, our fall has been spectacular. While enjoying our hot tub the other night we were mesmerized watching the chipmunks and squirrels get ready for the winter. The sunflowers that were planted near our retaining wall were the draw, and we were able to watch the squirrels run along the top of the wall, climb the sunflowers and retrieve the small seed heads. They also diligently worked to gnaw through and release some of the biggest flowers full of seeds. Sadly I didn't have a camera - and I was able to catch a picture of one of them the next evening, and a shot of some of the mess they left behind.
I can't tell you how much fun it was - more than 30 minutes of entertainment. Especially watching one squirrel try to figure out how to take home a flower full of seeds that was almost as big as he was. He tried many different routes before finally finding a way!