A few years ago in winter, a downy woodpecker began to work on this birch tree looking for food, when it was still standing but already dead. In the spring of the following year, a pair of black-capped chickadees spent a considerable time excavating the cavity as a nest site. They worked endlessly on it, ferrying mouthful after mouthful of excavated material away from the site. But after much work, they abandoned the site. This autumn, the snag fell down and split into pieces. I picked up the bit with the hole (cavity) in it, and lo and behold, it fell apart in my hands, revealing the interior where the chickadees had worked. Pretty impressive work for two small birds!

The big leafy nests found high up in deciduous trees, are made by the grey squirrels, and often referred to as dreys. In autumn, squirrels begin building these nests, usually several in close proximity, and through the winter you may find them refurbishing the nests, particularly after heavy snows or winds have knocked them askew. The squirrels will also use cavities, just as the red squirrels do, and will often use both types of shelter in winter.

By the time I got to FWG, it was +3 and sunny, a nice day to be out. But in the shaded pockets, frost could be found covering the vegetation, as here on the red oak leaf.

Bird nests are visible here and there now that most of the leaves have fallen from surrounding branches. Robert Berry found this one near the ash woodlot. These types of cup nests are made by many songbirds, particularly the neotropical migrants who breed here in summer but return to the new world tropics for the winter. Although I (Christine) can't say for sure, not having seen the actual nest, this looks somewhat like that of an american redstart.

Robert photographed this little guy, hopping agilely amid these thorns - a nibble here, a snack there.

Hawthorns are one of many trees and shrubs providing food for birds and animals at the FWG. Crabapples, magnolias, plums, manitoba maples, amur maples, buckthorn, tartarian honeysuckles, mountain ash, to name the most common, are all used by wildlife. Some of these of course, are invasives, but while they are still standing, the critters enjoy them. I (Christine)try to keep a list of which birds/animals eat what and am always interested in hearing what others have seen being used for food at the garden.