{"id":14144,"date":"2021-04-07T07:07:11","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T11:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?p=14144"},"modified":"2021-04-07T07:07:11","modified_gmt":"2021-04-07T11:07:11","slug":"squirrel-among-the-maple-blossoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?p=14144","title":{"rendered":"Squirrel among the Maple blossoms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-1 wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped\"><ul data-carousel-extra='{\"blog_id\":1,\"permalink\":\"https:\\\/\\\/psnp.info\\\/p4td_\\\/?p=14144\"}' class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08045.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-attachment-id=\"14141\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?attachment_id=14141\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08045.jpg?fit=2000%2C1497&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2000,1497\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;DSC-RX10M4&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1617727465&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;167.98&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.002&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"dsc08045\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08045.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08045.jpg?fit=904%2C676&amp;ssl=1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"904\" height=\"677\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08045.jpg?resize=904%2C677&#038;ssl=1\" data-id=\"14141\" class=\"wp-image-14141\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08045.jpg?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08045.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08045.jpg?resize=1024%2C766&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08045.jpg?resize=768%2C575&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08045.jpg?resize=1536%2C1150&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08045.jpg?resize=904%2C677&amp;ssl=1 904w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08045.jpg?w=1808&amp;ssl=1 1808w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 904px) 100vw, 904px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08049.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-attachment-id=\"14143\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?attachment_id=14143\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08049.jpg?fit=2000%2C1360&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2000,1360\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;DSC-RX10M4&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1617727468&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;167.98&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;250&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.002&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"dsc08049\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08049.jpg?fit=300%2C204&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08049.jpg?fit=904%2C614&amp;ssl=1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"904\" height=\"615\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08049.jpg?resize=904%2C615&#038;ssl=1\" data-id=\"14143\" class=\"wp-image-14143\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08049.jpg?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08049.jpg?resize=300%2C204&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08049.jpg?resize=1024%2C696&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08049.jpg?resize=768%2C522&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08049.jpg?resize=1536%2C1044&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08049.jpg?resize=904%2C615&amp;ssl=1 904w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08049.jpg?w=1808&amp;ssl=1 1808w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 904px) 100vw, 904px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08059.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-attachment-id=\"14142\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?attachment_id=14142\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08059.jpg?fit=2000%2C1782&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2000,1782\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;DSC-RX10M4&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1617727536&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;167.98&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;250&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.002&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"dsc08059\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08059.jpg?fit=300%2C267&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08059.jpg?fit=904%2C805&amp;ssl=1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"904\" height=\"805\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08059.jpg?resize=904%2C805&#038;ssl=1\" data-id=\"14142\" class=\"wp-image-14142\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08059.jpg?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08059.jpg?resize=300%2C267&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08059.jpg?resize=1024%2C912&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08059.jpg?resize=768%2C684&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08059.jpg?resize=1536%2C1369&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08059.jpg?resize=904%2C805&amp;ssl=1 904w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dsc08059.jpg?w=1808&amp;ssl=1 1808w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 904px) 100vw, 904px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Eastern Gray Squirrel: Kennebunk, Maine, USA \u2014 I looked out of my window yesterday afternoon, peaking between the blinds, and saw a squirrel on the maple branch above me. He appeared to be eating the maple blossoms&#8230;I have been watching the maple blossoms since they were just tiny red beads on the branch tips. Maple blossoms are one of my favorite things about spring. They are so beautiful, and so unlikely. I suspect the vast majority of Americans do not know that maples flower, and certainly do not know how beautiful the flowers are. Our blossoms are not quite ready to open into full flowers yet, but they have made a lot of progress the past few days. I certainly did not expect to see the squirrels eating them. A google peruse this morning shows that it is common behavior&#8230;to the extent that are recommended \u201ccures\u201d to keep squirrels from decimating ornamental maples in folk\u2019s yards. We have so many maple trees here in Southern Maine, and even in our yard, that it would take a plague of squirrels of biblical proportions (as they say) to do much damage. Much as I appreciate maple flowers, if the squirrels prefer them to my sunflower seeds in season, I say \u201clet them eat flowers!\u201d Anyway, I got my camera and spent a while watching and photographing the squirrel getting into all kinds of greedy postures among the maple blossoms. Each of these three shots tells its own story, and together they tell a tale. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 400, 250, and 250 @ f4 @ 1\/500th. <\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-14144\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?p=14144&amp;share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-14144\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?p=14144&amp;share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-email\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-email sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?p=14144&amp;share=email\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to email this to a friend\"><span>Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eastern Gray Squirrel: Kennebunk, Maine, USA \u2014 I looked out of my window yesterday afternoon, peaking between the blinds, and saw a squirrel on the maple branch above me. He appeared to be eating the maple blossoms&#8230;I have been watching the maple blossoms since they were just tiny red beads on the branch tips. Maple [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-14144\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?p=14144&amp;share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-14144\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?p=14144&amp;share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-email\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-email sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?p=14144&amp;share=email\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to email this to a friend\"><span>Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5,6,35,327,57,266,305,170,117,118,121],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p26ui8-3G8","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14144"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}