Shy squirrels

Beside a lonely trail winding through the Miracle Beach forest, I caught sight of a pair of small squirrels, the size of chipmunks, but without the chipmunk stripes. Unfortunately, they saw me first, took a quick look at me, and ran away. I got a few very bad photos, but I hadn't seen any of these here on the island, so I'm passing the best on.

Maybe a Douglas squirrel, Tamiasciurus douglasii. The second one is that brown spot in back.

It's possible they are the Red squirrels, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus. The two species are distinguished mainly by the colour of their bellies. Which I didn't see.

Red squirrels and Douglas squirrels are our native tree squirrels. They are approximately the same size, but about half the size of grey squirrels. Red squirrels are rusty-red in colour with white underparts. Douglas squirrels are reddish-brown with yellow underparts.

They both live in coniferous forests, not cities. The Douglas squirrel is found only on B.C.’s southern coast, while the red squirrel is found almost everywhere in B.C. with the exception of the southern coast. (BCSPCA)

E-Fauna adds that both species can be found on Vancouver Island.

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Al lado de un sendero solitario que vaga por el bosque cerca de Miracle Beach (Playa Milagrosa), vi una pareja de ardillas muy pequeñas, como del tamaño de una ardillita rayada (que no son ardillas sino del género Tamias). Mala suerte que ellos me vieron antes, se detuvieron unos segundos para mirarme, y luego se escondieron entre la hierba. Pude sacar unas cuantas fotos, todas muy malas, pero como no había visto estas ardillas aquí en la isla, subo la mejor de las fotos de todas maneras.

Puede ser una ardilla Douglas, Tamiasciurus douglasii. O tal vez una ardilla roja, T. hudsonicus. Las dos especies se distinguen por el color de la barriga. Lo que no pude ver.

"Las ardillas Rojas y las ardillas Douglas son nuestras ardillas de árbol nativas. Son aproximadamente del mismo tamaño, pero más o menos la mitad del tamaño de las ardillas grises.Las ardillas rojas son de un color rojo oxidado con las partes inferiores blancas. Las ardillas Douglas son rojizas con las barrigas amarillas.

Las dos viven en bosques coníferos, no en las ciudades. La ardilla Douglas se encuentra solamente en la costa del sur de BC, mientras que la ardilla roja se encuentra en casi todas partes de BC, menos en la costa del sur." (BCSPCA)

E-Fauna BC añade que las dos especies se hallan en la isla de Vancouver.

Statues

When I was a kid, oh so many centuries ago, we used to play a game that we called Statues. (Here it is called "Swing the Statue", which is probably a better name.

One player is chosen to be "it." He or she takes each of the other players in turn and, holding them by a wrist or hand, swings them in a circle and then lets them go. The swung player must freeze as soon as possible and hold that position as long as possible. The first player to break the freeze becomes "it." Since the first player swung must hold the position longest, begin with the oldest child first. The entertainment value comes from seeing the strange positions that players end up in and watching them try to hold those positions. (From About.com.)

This grey squirrel would be good at the game. She froze in place at the first click of the camera's mirror lifting, even through the closed door, and held the pose until I tired of waiting for her to come closer. I moved first; she won the round.

"If I don't move, she won't see me."

Dining al fresco

December already! And it looks like winter outside; skimpy snow, melted, refrozen, melted, refrozen; the pavement is treacherous, the garden unhappy, the bird bath solid ice with a fluff of snow on top.

I've been feeding the birds my hulled sunflower seeds and whole-grain bread crumbs for the ones that like tiny stuff; I wasn't prepared with small seeds. My bad.

Before the snow, the birds at my door were chickadees and a few juncos. This week a pair of nuthatches joined the queue at the sunflower seed bowl. And there's a handful of fox sparrows, one with a damaged foot, a few towhees, and more juncos; these mostly stay on the ground, and like their seeds broken up.

I've been trying to get photos, through the double-paned door (and I really should wash that window again), and with the bird camera on the ground. The photos aren't good, but the critters are fun.

Sparrow with a beak full of seed. From the BirdCam.

Caught with flash by the BirdCam. Chickadee coming in for a landing just before his bedtime. 7:30 PM.

Towhee, through the window. He likes the tiny crumbs.

And the black squirrel comes several times every day and eats everything still there, so I have to replenish the seed after he's left. But I've never seen this baby squirrel; the BirdCam caught him, a few inches from the camera.

I'll have to keep an eye out for this one.

On the wall

First day of snow this year. It's melting already tonight.

And first winter for this black squirrel.

"Can't see me! I'm hiding behind this pile of white stuff."

The green vine is sausage vine. A shade-loving, cool-climate evergreen. Maybe it will produce fruit one of these years.

He's got plans for this.

Maybe he's redecorating. Maybe he's just cold. Or he's heard we're due for a hard winter.

A scrawny black squirrel has been trying to steal a rag rug from my doorstep for the last few days. I caught him on video this afternoon.

What do you think he's up to?

Opportunist

I've been setting out hulled sunflower seeds for a chickadee with a damaged beak, and recently he's been sitting in the rhododendron scolding when he can't find them. "Dee dee dee, where's my dinner?" The BirdCam caught the reason:

"Nom, nom, nom!"

Smiley

Douglas squirrel, Bear Creek Park:

"Chip, chip, chip, chip . . . " 

He called us into the forested area, chip, chip, chipping away constantly. Never stopped the whole time we looked for him high in the tree, nor while 4 people surrounded the tree taking photos. Never attempted to hide or leave. And smiled the whole time!

Free lunch

It hasn't been a good winter for birds around our place. Whether it's the weird weather, or the unusual lack of insects, or something else, I can't tell. But only a few chickadees have been using the sunflower seed feeder, and a mere handful of juncos has been feeding on the ground in the sunny patch. Apart from those, we've seen a pair of varied thrushes, a sparrow or two, and one little wren that comes occasionally to use my birdbath.

I set out a suet cake on top of a winter-bare planter, hoping to attract more birds, and possibly to help them over the freezing days. One junco came, almost daily. Last week he brought a partner for a few minutes.

No-one else was interested.

Until today; the juncos have gone, but a squirrel followed his nose to the planter, and I found him chowing down with gusto.

"This is yummy! And wasted on silly birds!"

Showing his teeth.

In other years, the squirrels and I were at loggerheads; they kept trying to steal the suet, and I kept chasing them off; that was bird food!

That was then. This little guy is welcome to finish up the whole cake. I don't think the junco will mind.