3 March 2009
Red at nest
Still on reds (sorry), a red squirrel was sitting on and at times leaning against, its downed nest. This nest has been on the ground for a couple of weeks now and the squirrel has a cavity nearby. However, it was really touching to see this little one sitting there, eyes half closed, as if in reverie about his home. After a few minutes, he gave a very visible shake, and took off. When I passed by 40 minutes later, he was back at his downed home.
3 March 2009
Climbing out of the tunnel
And finally, a very feisty red squirrel kept popping in and out of its snow tunnel like a jack-in-the-box, completely unconcerned by my presence. I tried for a few photos, but the squirrel was moving pretty fast!
3 March 2009
Red emerging from tunnel
A little further out of the snow tunnel.
2 March 2009
Mourning dove
One of the few birds, apart from chickadees, cardinals and house finches, visible today.
2 March 2009
Manitoba maple chewed by voles
I've mentioned many times this winter, the use made by wildlife of Manitoba maple seeds. I know a lot of people dislike these trees. I'm not sure why, perhaps because they produce abundant seeds which sprout freely and grow quickly. But, they are native to Canada, as native as our purple coneflowers and other prairie plants that we seem happy to grow as natives in our gardens! At any rate, this tree has been very thoroughly girdled by voles, and like all the others also girdled in the past, will die. The voles have done a good job controlling Manitoba maples around the garden. They seem to be their tree of choice in winter.
2 March 2009
DSV in nest box
I checked a few of the nest boxes today to see if anyone had been using them since I cleaned them in the fall. This one contained a layer of dog-strangling vine (DSV) seed pods and fluff.
2 March 2009
Red burying walnut
As has often been the case this winter, the squirrels provided the most entertainment. This little red had found a walnut and running up the slope of the ravine, proceeded to very carefully bury it. He dug a hole, inserted the nut, and then very, very seriously patted the snow back into place, turning back to give a couple of extra pats just to make sure the walnut would stay buried!
2 March 2009
Grey squirrel nest.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of all the activity surrounding this nest. While on the far side of the ravine, I noticed a grey (black) squirrel in the ravine busily stripping a cattail of lengths of fibre. After several minutes he ran up the opposite side of the ravine and into a tree with this nest. Just after he disappeared into the nest with his booty, another squirrel emerged, a grey, grey squirrel this time, and ran down to the same spot. He, or she, collected more cattail strips and took these back to the nest also. I went around to get a better look at the nest from the north side of the ravine, and just as I got into viewing position, two black squirrels emerged, rushed down the trunk and dispersed. One back to the cattails, the other to pick up some leaves and other debris lying on the snow beneath the tree. These he took back up to the nest. Meanwhile the grey came back again and gathered some more leaves, also brought up to the nest. Then one of the black ones came back empty-handed. Instead of going up the tree, he picked up some black locust seed pods and stripped the seeds from them, having a nosh. It was too darn cold to continue watching further, although had it been a little warmer I'd have settled in for a long wait to see what else transpired with these three.