[edom31]

Fleeing

[reh321]

I was sitting in the "Den" watching TV, when I suddenly noticed bushes shaking outside, so I grabbed my KP with '77-420mm PLM' lens.
In a few more moments, this fellow emerged. The {big} fox squirrels dominate around here, but every once-in-awhile we see one of these smaller ones.
I suppose they live in the areas where the fox squirrels won't fit.
Anyway, he stood there for a minute or so - then went back into the bushes.
I know the squirrels are around all year, but now as Winter approaches, they begin to emerge from the leaves.

added: he keeps emerging - apparently eating the berries {joining the Robins} while the fox squirrels munch on the apples.

[swanlefitte]

so I grabbed my KP with '77-420mm PLM' lens.

I use that lens almost exclusiely these days.

I also have many red squirrel friends. Find their pot of gold and add to it and they love you.

I love the shot with legs extended.

[WPRESTO]

Squirrels have not been a subject for many months so I scrounged up an old batch of squirrel images so one could be processed for posting. Not anywhere near ready to forget Rupert and Otis.

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[reh321]

In recent years, I have begun using our Squirrel Feeder with a Thanksgiving feast and ended it with an Easter feast.
This photo dates back to last Easter, when I filled it with peanuts instead of the usual "squirrel and critter food" {a commercially available mixture which is mostly corn}, and the squirrels lined up.

[Sigma2021]

A squirrel-ly meeting at a park

[reh321]

A squirrel-ly meeting at a park

A local women’s college has put out “do not feed the squirrels” notices every Fall since one climbed the leg of a maintenance worker looking for food; the college decided the the squirrels were becoming too friendly. I still view them as good subjects for my camera.

[reh321]

A picture from April Fool's Day roughly six months ago.
I believe this guy thinks he is hiding from me.

[subsea]

Squirrel on the rocks in Half Moon Bay (south of San Francisco) in 1980. Pentax ME with 50mm/ƒ1.7 lens on Kodacolor II film.

[crazy4oldcars]

Squirrel on the rocks in Half Moon Bay (south of San Francisco) in 1980. Pentax ME with 50mm/ƒ1.7 lens on Kodacolor II film.

That's different. I've never seen a squirrel with that coloring.

[jbinpg]

This looks like a damp California Ground Squirrel. Nice shot!

[paulh]

almost invisible...

[reh321]

In a photo from last year, we see that the local squirrels are not slowed in their eating by a little thing like snow fall.

[subsea]

Feed the birds, and the grey ones come running.

Interesting SCIENCE story in the National Weekly section of the Washington Post, entitled "What's the pecking order at a bird feeder?" They show a graphic with 25 different bird species ranked according to how frequently they are a successful (i.e. dominant) aggressor when interacting with other bird species and use blue jays as the reference. The most successful bird among those for whom interactions were recorded is the American crow, and the least successful is the Carolina chickadee.

That being said, the most successful eater observed at the bird feeder is actually...

wait for it....

squirrels.

Now, how could we not have known that?

[WPRESTO]

Interesting SCIENCE story in the National Weekly section of the Washington Post, entitled "What's the pecking order at a bird feeder?" They show a graphic with 25 different bird species ranked according to how frequently they are a successful (i.e. dominant) aggressor when interacting with other bird species and use blue jays as the reference. The most successful bird among those for whom interactions were recorded is the American crow, and the least successful is the Carolina chickadee.

That being said, the most successful eater observed at the bird feeder is actually...

wait for it....

squirrels.

Now, how could we not have known that?

Among birds coming to our feeders, bears dominate and put an end to the feeding in Spring. I've noticed that many birds will yield to a mourning dove. Chickadees and the closely related titmice may be low on the dominance ladder, but they are quick, early and persistent. They are always first when new seed is set out, they are at the feeder more often than any other species, and they continue feeding late into the afternoon. In terms of the volume of seeds taken, it would not surprise me to find these little birds high on the list (discounting the two mammals)