Posts in Category: squirrel

Pugilant Squirrel

Grey Squirrel: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Great light, engaging squirrel…what could go wrong? I was in my backyard photo blind (a chair blind I put out when I need it, and take down when I don’t), and the squirrel was certainly aware I was in there. He or she was not threatened enough to do more than aggressively posture…but posture he or she did. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Red Squirrel revisited

Red Squirrel: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — another look at destructive captain of cute…the Red Squirrel that visited our deck a few days ago. I have not seen it since so maybe it was just out scouting for territory on that particularly warm February day. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Taken through double glazed glass. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th. +1 EV exposure compensation.

Red Squirrel. Trick or treat?

Red Squirrel: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I know Red Squirrels are not good neighbors…ounce for ounce one of the most potentially destructive of creatures, at least as far as human property goes, but I have to admit to still liking to see them in the yard. They are just so cute, and mischievous with it…it is hard not to enjoy them…at least while they are not actively undermining the foundations or eating their way into the attic. This one was out for an early forage in the 40 degree weather yesterday and spent a half hour or so in our yard and on our deck among the feeders, cleaning up spilled seed and trying just about every way it could think of to get into the feeders…without success so far, but I have my eye on it. Sony Rx10iv at 189mm equivalent. Taken through double glazed deck doors. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/400th.

Confiding squirrel

Eastern Grey Squirrel, Kennebunk, Maine. I was taking photos of the birds out my back deck door, standing in the open slide, when this squirrel hopped up on the rail and came pretty much right up to me. This was taken at about 3 feet. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Portrait of Mrs. Squirrel

I think squirrels are cute…but that does not mean I give them a free pass when it comes to raiding my bird feeders. I have invested in a set of “squirrel proof” feeders and suet cages that, for the most part, defeat the squirrels’ attempts at criminal trespass. That does not mean they don’t try, several times a day, sometimes once an hour. The idea of all that food, right there in easy view, is evidently just too much for them, even when past experience has proven that they can’t get at it. It is entertaining to watch them, and I don’t mind anything they take from the ground under the feeders, even when I scatter seed for the sparrows. If it is on the ground it is fair game. This mother squirrel is one of the pack of 3 or 4 who come to our yard every day. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Criminal intent…

The Grey Squirrels use my bird feeder setup near my photo blind as a jungle gym. All my feeders are, at least to the extent possible given modern technology, squirrel proof, and they have not yet solved the problems presented, so my seed is, for the moment, safe…but that does not stop them from trying. This squirrel is already, by the look of it, getting plenty to eat, so it can just leave my seed for the birds, thank you very much. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Red momma!

Red Squirrel, Laudholm Farms, Wells Maine

I was walking on the boardwalk through the maple swamp at the Wells National Estuarine Research Center at Laudholm Farms yesterday, and I thought, “this is just about where I saw the Red Squirrel last year.” And just like magic, there was a Red Squirrel on the boardwalk doing just exactly what the Red Squirrel was doing last year…picking up and eating the the little whirlygig seeds of the Red Maple. Once more, the squirrel allowed me to approach quite closely…I worked my way a few feet at a time to within 12 feet of it, before it turned to challenge me and then scampered off.

I knew, while taking the pictures, that there was something odd about the squirrel…or out of the ordinary anyway. Last year the squirrel had a wound on its nose below the eye on one side. This year it was an obviously nursing mother squirrel, taking a break from nest duty to enjoy the maple bounty. You can’t see the nipples in this shot, but in other they are clearly visible.

Sony RX10iii at 840mm equivalent field of view (600mm optical plus an in-camera crop to 10mp for the extra reach.)  1/250th @ ISO 125 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom. The difference in clarity and detail between this photo and the those I took with the Nikon P900 last year is obvious at anything larger than screen view 🙂 and it is pretty clear even here.

Agitation!

Red Squirrel, Alewive Pone Woods, Kennebunk ME

This is another shot of the Red Squirrel from my encounter last week in Alewive Woods. You can see how unhappy he is to have me visit by the blurring of his agitated tail. Sure sign!

Nikon P900 at 1100mm equivalent field of view. 1/50th @ ISO 800 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom.

Sassy Red

Red Squirrel, Alewive Woods Preserve, Kennebunk Land Trust. Kennebunk ME

I told the story of this Red Squirrel, which I encountered on my hike into Alewive Pond on Thursday, in today’s Year Poem (which I will append here for your viewing pleasure :).

The photo is with the Nikon P900 at 1100mm equivalent field of view. 1/60th @ ISO 800 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom.

And the poem.

The red squirrel paralleled me
100 years along the trail,
always three threes ahead,
but with one eye solid on me.

Eventually he found a perch
on a branch, oh, twice my height,
just where the trail turns,
to sit safe and sass me as only
a Red Squirrel can sass…tail
arched high, little paws, tiny
claws clenched, every ounce
of his ten, behind the eye
that glared, that dared me
to do my worst!

Little did he know I had
my camera ready to
record his heroic posturing,
or that his antics would
be exposed on the internet
for all the world to see.

So there, Mr. Red Squirrel,
we humans can sass too.

Red in his element… Happy New Year!

Red Squirrel, Wells National Estuarine Research Center at Laudholm Farms, Wells Maine

When it got up to 40 degrees early yesterday afternoon, I thought, “now or never.” You could almost watch the snow cover disappearing under the December sun. I needed to get out further than I had been, and find some snowy fields and forest while it lasted (oh, we will get more, but every boy must play in the first snow of the year 🙂 I decided on Laudholm Farms (Wells National Estuarine Research Center). When snow is on the ground you have to think about where parking will be plowed. Laudholm is always safe, and Rachel Carson NWR headquarters, but I wanted the open fields of Laudholm…and of course Laudholm has forest and marsh too.

I got my fields and entered the forest going the wrong way on the boardwalk through the wet maple swamp. I heard a skittering off to my left and looked up to see this Red Squirrel in a pile of limbs from a downed tree. I have posted a few shots of the Red Squirrel that has been visiting our deck and feeders over the past few weeks…but here was Red in his element…snowy forest…tangle of limbs…scampering free. It looks to me as though he had dug up a tightly rolled fern with a core of snow. ?? He was, over the next few moments, intent of pulling it apart for some nutrient inside. A Red Squirrel on the deck under the feeders is cute (if you can ignore their destructive side), but a Red Squirrel where it belongs, deep in the forest, doing its thing…that is beautiful.

Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.

And may you, this coming year…find rolled up ferns full of nutrient on even the snowiest days…and my you be as beautiful and as vital as a Red Squirrel in his element each and every day. Okay, so if you have to, you can be cute a few days too! Happy New Year!