During the winter months we were becoming fairly concerned that we had not seen many Reds in the garden, we were fully aware that they partially hibernated & we had had some cold weather, but they just were not showing. Our 2 permanent neighbours we realised were also feeding them but the report from them was they had not seen many. As Spring turned to Summer we would see the occasional one, but over the last two weeks we have had 3 regular visitors which was a great relief to us. One of these was a lot smaller than the other two so we imagined it was a youngster & was aware that they are born very early Spring so we were pleased with that. Unable to sleep this morning I got up a bit earlier than usual, nothing special just maybe half an hour earlier. Looked out the living room window to see 4 squirrels competing to get on the feeding station, so good to see I can assure you.
So I have taken a few photos, not I think of all 4 as one is particularly nervous around us, but definitely of 3 of them, so I hope you enjoy them.
This one is really used to us & allowed me to get within 10 feet of it to take this shot, just love the fact that it’s tail is longer than it’s body.
In this shot the one on the right was feeding & the other sneaked up behind it, when the feeding one saw it gave chase, but the other was just to fast for it & while the feeder went around the back of the tree he sneaked down onto the feeding tray & grabbed a peanut.
Some times one will sneak up on another, wait patiently for it to have it’s feed then go down into the nut box for it’s turn. But if the feeding one see’s it it will chase it away. Because I want to encourage the new Red to feed as well (it is not either of these) I leave the feeder lid propped open so it can find the peanuts easier. Though the old hands now know how to lift the lid when it is closed, when a new arrival comes along it can smell the nuts, but not know how to lift the lid. So by leaving it open it learns the entrance, then I can close it & it will eventually learn how to open it. If I leave it open all the time I would need to be a millionaire to feed them as every second the squirrels are not there a member of the Tit family will be in like a shot & pinch a nut each.
As it is the older squirrels are having their feed & then taking nuts into the garden & burying them as a winter store, not that they ever go looking for the buried ones as it is so much easier to go to the Miller feeding station, which is always open. Good job peanuts do not grow in this country as I think we would have our very own peanut farm.
I find this so funny, we have put two old mugs on a branch filled daily with bird food, one of the youngsters who cannot get near the nut box because of the adults, has learned that the sunflower seeds, sultanas & seeds are just as tasty & is not adverse to sticking it’s snout in for a feed.
This is the culprit from the previous shot & you can see it is a youngster as it’s tail is not as bushy as the adults, though as I was only some 20 feet away from it, it seems to be getting used to the click of the camera & stayed around for a while.
So I hope you have enjoyed seeing these lovely animals that we have the privilege of seeing daily, as they bring a smile to our faces in these difficult times.