Diane photographed this gorgeous kestrel at the garden on Sunday morning.

Deciding I wasn't going to rob him of his peanut, this very pretty, fluffy, red sat on the roof of the feeder and daintily ate it.

There was a small flock of these sparrows in the garden, found around the old field, ash woods, and here, in the Backyard Garden (BYG). Lots of birds today, and in addition to these guys, there were many song sparrows, a few chipping sparrows, about 4 or 5 fox sparrows (some singing their beautiful, almost finch-like song), two ravens, an eastern phoebe, the kestrel in his usual spot, several northern flickers, a few ruby-crowned kinglets, red-winged blackbirds, robins, chickadees, cardinals, american goldfinches, crows, common redpolls, white-breasted nuthatches, downy and hairy woodpeckers, and a yellow-bellied sapsucker.

Last summer, I noticed an interesting sight. Honey bees were going in and out of a roosting box. These boxes were put up in case birds wanted to use them as a place for roosting at night. Birds showed no interest, but squirrels, both red and grey, did. A red squirrel continued occupying this box throughout the use by honey bees. Today, I asked Barry if he wanted to take a look inside. We found that the combs were affixed to the roof, and down the side of the walls. There were no bees, and most of the combs had been broken off. The roof and sides, where honey had dripped down, were chewed considerably. I assume the red squirrel (still using the box) thought it was manna from heaven when the bees took up residence and must have got fat on the contents, including possibly the bees.

A small groundhog has dug himself a den in a part of the garden. I hope he remains safe, as most are not. They get chased by dogs and killed by them too. Hopefully the location of this den will help keep dogs away.

This is a sure sign that a squirrel has gathered and stashed these cones or seedheads, for future use.