20-MAR-2018
Red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)
There were numerous red squirrels seen today, in fact I saw many more of them than the gray squirrels. This one was sitting in a small tree that has a red squirrel nest at the top. Across the trail is a stand of staghorn sumacs. I watched as this squirrel ran down the tree to a particular spot. After sitting awhile it eventually reached over and extracted a stashed sumac seedhead. There weren't many seeds on this one and it was quickly dispensed with. The squirrel then rummaged around, next photo, and found another one, third photo, much heavier with seeds.
20-MAR-2018
Red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)
After eating one sparsely seeded sumac cone, previous photo, the squirrel found another more productive one, next photo.
20-MAR-2018
Red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)
This sumac seedhead has more seeds than the last one, and the squirrel settled down to feed (see previous two photos).
20-MAR-2018
Pond
This is our Andrenid bee bank, on the north side of the pond. Since it is south facing, the snow melts earlier there than on the opposite side. We're hoping that the andrenid colony is still there, as it has been for at least a decade. The nearby willow (next photo) is a magnet for these bees as well as numerous other early appearing insects such as nomada bees, bee flies, various flies, some early sweat bees, etc.
20-MAR-2018
Willow catkins
Soon, we hope, this tree will be alive with early spring insects seeking nectar.
12-MAR-2018
Grey squirrel
Some of the squirrels in the Backyard Garden seem to be rather tame these days. This is the second one that has approached me, albeit a bit tentatively, clearly expecting food. They are so darned cute it is hard to resist them!
12-MAR-2018
grey squirrel, black phase next to drey
Spring is definitely in the air. Birds are singing more and more, and squirrels are mating. Here, a grey squirrel is sitting beneath its leafy drey, which it had been refurbishing,gathering leaves from the bare patches in the woods and ferrying them up to the nest.
12-MAR-2018
House finch, male
There were quite a few birds at the Fletcher garden, but more heard than seen:
House finch, 2
Black-capped chickadee, 8
Northern cardinal, 1
American goldfinches, 5
Downy woodpecker, 1
Pileated woodpecker, 1
Red-breasted nuthatch 1
White-breasted nuthatch, 1
Dark-eyed junco, 1
American robin, 2
Red-winged blackbird, 4
American crows, 10+
12-MAR-2018
American robin
Unlike last winter when there were big flocks of robins around throughout the season, I haven't seen any (which doesn't mean they were not around), so it was nice to see a couple of them today.
12-MAR-2018
Dark-eyed junco
A few of these birds have been around the garden all winter. Although they nest in the region, not at the garden.
12-MAR-2018
Red-winged blackbird
Always the sound of spring to my ears, and as soon as I got out of the car, I heard several of these birds calling from the pond area. However, getting a photo proved surprisingly difficult. They were very flighty and didn't sit around any one place too long and so in the end, this was the only halfway decent shot (that is, not excessively blurry) I got for the blog. They've been back in our region since late February.
12-MAR-2018
Sumacs
Hearing the sound of these icons of spring, I headed down to the pond certain I'd manage to snag some photos, but it was nearly impossible. This one was feeding on sumac seeds but I never did succeed in getting it in focus, so you'll have to imagine it is.