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Image-of-the-Day by Subject

Image Taken on 12 Mar 2019 at 16:20    Image of day on 09 Apr 2019

Grey Squirrels enjoy the seed cones from Norway Spruce, often taking them away to somewhere convenient.


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Image Taken on 21 Oct 2021 at 16:02    Image of day on 04 Dec 2021

The Bounty of Autumn comes in many forms.
This Grey squirrel makes off with a couple of Rose Hips.


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Image Taken on 20 Nov 2023 at 14:21    Image of day on 30 Dec 2023

... to here carrying away a whole Teasel head. We assume that it will get ripped to bits to get out the seeds, rather than the delicate plucking out of the seeds by birds.


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Image Taken on 16 Apr 2013 at 18:26    Image of day on 28 May 2013

We have just one 'Christmas Tree' on the plot, probably now 25 years old and producing scores of long thin cones. The Grey squirrels chew at these to get out the seeds.


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Image Taken on 30 Sep 2016 at 18:09    Image of day on 18 Nov 2016

A Grey Squirrel finishing off a fallen Cone, most likely from the overhanging Lodgepole Pine tree. Nice to see some natural food being chosen.
The awkward crop reflects the bottom right corner of the original frame.


Ref: 20161118_e63_20160930_1809_147_fb1 grey squirrel chewing remains of fir cone(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 26 Jan 2017 at 12:34    Image of day on 05 Mar 2017

Everybody knows that Grey squirrels cache large items of food (mainly nuts) to eat another day. But this Squirrel was making repeated visits to the corn scattered bird table to collect some grain in his mouth and then leap down to bury it in the grass a few metres away. Here is one of the sequences all photographed in the same minute.
Can we expect a fine crop of corn here next year?


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Image Taken on 11 Feb 2020 at 15:52    Image of day on 06 Mar 2020

As much dry leaf as can be crammed into the mouth of this Grey Squirrel on its way to reinforce the Drey.


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Image Taken on 07 Feb 2017 at 16:29    Image of day on 20 Mar 2017

... before sorting out the bedding for the Drey and the weather gets colder and wetter.
Contrary to popular belief Grey Squirrels do not 'Hibernate' - coming out to forage or eat cached food in any reasonably warm weather or when an good opportunity arises (like your's truly laying out food for the wildlife).


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Image Taken on 28 Nov 2015 at 08:41    Image of day on 08 Jan 2016

All these dry leaves in the rain sheltered patch under the conifer must make wonderful warm and dry bedding for the Drey.


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Image Taken on 17 Nov 2013 at 15:01    Image of day on 05 Jan 2014

Another dry insulating leaf for the Drey - wherever it might be.
As autumn progresses we get to see a couple of Dreys in deciduous trees, but think most of them are sensibly in evergreen trees.


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Image Taken on 03 Nov 2018 at 07:42    Image of day on 22 Dec 2018

Next morning and for several following days the serious business of the keeping the Drey warm is underway.


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Image Taken on 28 Feb 2018 at 13:17    Image of day on 06 Apr 2018

All over the site Rabbits and (here) Grey squirrels find or make (by scratching at the snow) a piece of bare grass or soil, and than rake away at it until they find an insect or worm to fill that ever-empty tummy.


Ref: 20180406_df3_20180228_1317_012+011 grey squirrel digging up food from exposed grass in snow (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 22 Mar 2019 at 07:59    Image of day on 15 Apr 2019

'Biting off more than 'he' can chew?'
This is a Grey Squirrel - they don't know when to give up!


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Image Taken on 21 Nov 2020 at 14:04    Image of day on 24 Dec 2020

Raw Carrot seems to have become a little less unpopular with the Grey Squirrels. We suspect that one or two (of the all-together too many) of them quite like it.
Animals are not identical automata - decades of observation have shown us that they have individual preferences and idiosyncrasies just like humans.


Ref: 20201224_e64_20201121_1404_128_fb2 grey squirrel eating carrot top in leaf litter(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 19 Nov 2015 at 15:58    Image of day on 05 Jan 2016

At this time of year we enjoy eating sweet chestnuts. We have the trees, and some produce the nuts, but the Squirrels take them away before they are ready for us to harvest. So ours come from Tesco or Ocado! The crumbs we leave in the husks make a meal for small creatures.


Ref: 20160105_e63_20151119_1558_059_fb1 grey squirrel eating half of cooked chestnut husk(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 19 Nov 2020 at 12:53    Image of day on 20 Dec 2020

A vigorous scrabble in the long grass produces something that this Grey Squirrel finds worthy of consumption.


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Image Taken on 23 Sep 2021 at 10:30    Image of day on 05 Nov 2021

Squirrel Heaven - a seemingly endless supply of fir cones in the row of Lodgepole Pines!


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Image Taken on 14 Aug 2012 at 18:32    Image of day on 20 Sep 2012

We regularly find piles of pine cone fragments, often on the top of our photographic 'boxes'. Here a grey squirrel (always assumed to be the 'culprit') has a piece in the mouth as it seems to be dropping the remains of a cone.


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Image Taken on 13 Mar 2021 at 09:04    Image of day on 06 Apr 2021

At this time or year the Grey Squirrels make the most of the mass of 'tasty and nutritious' willow catkins. They can't reach most of them along the whippy branches, so bite through the end they can get at (what teeth!) and hold the cut twig to eat.


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Image Taken on 13 Mar 2021 at 09:05    Image of day on 06 Apr 2021

Ref: 20210406_d5c_20210313_0905_172 grey squirrel eating willow catkins and breaking off twigs to get them 5 of 8 (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg

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