A Sad Squirrel Day

A sad day, the facially scarred squirrel came to the lounge window for food this morning, as always I waved to him and went to the kitchen to feed him.

Looking out of the window there he was ready and waiting (he is always quicker to reach there than I am!). Through the window I checked his wounded head, on the left side it was hideously swollen, but looked clean and dry --- no oozing pus. I had often seen it looking much worse and wished I could do something about it.

Opening the window I gave him some food, he took it and put it to his mouth, turning it round and round in his little hands. Meanwhile I refilled the bird table with dried fruit, seed, porridge oats, suet and mealworms. Glancing at the squirrel I noticed he was still standing in the same position, holding the food to his mouth and still turning it round and round. As I watched he dropped the food moved across and picked up more.

I had never seen this behaviour before and was intrigued, so continued to watch.

The squirrel went from one piece of food to another, it didn't matter what he picked up, he didn't seem able to eat it. Watching closely I realised that although he could put the food to his mouth he appeared to be unable to open his mouth.

He was obviously very hungry, he was standing on the bird table, bringing his hands together in a sweeping motion, then trying to push the food into his still closed mouth.

He climbed back up to the windowsill and sat there looking at me. I felt so helpless, I didn't know how to help him. Then I had an idea that may work, he loved peanuts, opening the tin I took a handful and dropped them out to him. Quickly he picked one up held it to his mouth, but he wasn't putting it in despite trying, in his efforts he rubbed all of the skin off the peanut. He dropped the peanut and moved on to the next one, he did this repeatedly always with the same results.

While watching him I became aware that his tail which had always been long and luxuriant, was no longer, I noticed the last inch was hairless and looked like a rats tail, the whole of the rest of the tail also looked different. Gone were the long luxuriant light coloured hairs and left was a covering of short brownish hair.

What had happened to him I wondered. Did it have something to do with his inability to eat? Had he been damaged by a car or a cat?

He was back on the windowsill, standing, hands clutched in front of him and staring at me, obviously hungry and still he hadn't managed to eat.

I racked my brains and thought of grapes, which he also loved. Taking four I cut them in half and gave them to him. One after the other he picked them up, put them to his mouth but was still unable to eat them.

It was a good fifteen minutes now and still he hadn't managed to eat anything. He was back on the bird table and sweeping up hands full of food trying to push the food into his mouth. Feeling upset that I could do nothing to help him, I left the window asking myself, what will happen to him.

The Squirrel, the Robin and the Wren

I have often written about the magpies following the squirrels, hoping for their food. This morning I saw a robin following the squirrels for apparently the same reason as the magpies. The bird tables were full up, there was a large amount on the ground and yet the robin chose to watch the squirrel from a nearby branch as he visited the bird table and then as the squirrel left with a biscuit, the robin also left the branch and skimming across the lawn, followed the squirrel into the branches of a nearby six feet high conifer, he appeared to be in hot pursuit of the squirrel. However no sooner had he entered the conifer than he flashed out and a sight faster than he flew in, he was followed by a tiny, fiery, rocket like wren, who caught up with the robin on the woodpile and powered straight into him.

The robin, squirrel obviously forgotten, spent the next few minutes preening himself and straightening his feathers.

I can only assume that the behaviour of the wren was caused because he is nesting in the conifer and considered it his territory, I have never witnessed aggression from a wren before.

I have a feeling the robin might feel safer next time feeding from the bird table instead of following the squirrel for crumbs --- if indeed that was what he was doing.

Spiral stemmed cyclamen seed pods and sunsets.

I wrote a few days ago about autumn flowers and among them cyclamens. While speaking with a dear friend I was told their winter garden tidy was due and one of the jobs was tidying cyclamen  plants. They explained how, by pulling off all the dead leaves, flowers and the little round things on spiral stalks, which they took to be a form of dead flower.

This led me to wondering how many other people do this and I need to say, if you see stems growing from your cyclamen that have formed spirals and have a rounded end on them, it is best to leave them alone if you can bear to, because these are seed pods which if left, will when ready burst open, scattering seeds from which you and your garden will benefit, in the form of more pretty cyclamen plants.

The sky was a beautiful pink prior to the sun setting.

As it set we were treated to a very interesting blue and grey sky speckled with pink.

Green iridescent humming bird

During a telephone call today with my son who lives in Seattle, he suddenly said, "There is a green iridescent humming bird right outside my window. His head and body are perfectly still but his wings are just a blur. He is feeding on a fuschia".

I hadn't told him of my seeing a green iridescent beetle the day before and found this quite a coincidence.

Once again I wondered about the iridescence and if the cause was the same in beetles, birds, moths and butterflies.

Autumn colours and a green iridescent beetle

Pleasantly surprised down the garden this afternoon by the autumn scene which greeted me, many leaves had fallen from the birch tree and these had formed a soft yellow carpet, from which sprang many flowers still in bloom, fuschias, erigerons, michaelmas daisies, tiny ground hugging blue campanulas their bell shaped flowers resting on the leafy expanse, pansies, geraniums and pretty cyclamens.

The earth where the badger had his path was bare and heavily compacted, as I looked something flashed and caught my eye, it was a beautiful green, iridescent beetle. I wished I had my camera with me, but no sooner had I wished it than the beetle ran under the golden leafy ground cover, despite searching for him, he was too quick for me and apart from that one beautiful flashing view I was unable to find him again

I looked them up and was interested to read that the hard surfaces that we see on these iridescent beetles are composed of many layers of little plate like structures that all face in different directions, these layers bend and reflect incoming light, underneath these layers is a further layer of pigment, which enhances the effect of the iridescence.

While being interesting this still didn't answer my questioning mind,  it told me how it happened but not exactly where the beautiful colour came from, I understood there was a further layer of pigment below the plates but this still didn't explain it fully enough for me. I then read that for many species this is still an open topic of research.

Autumn colour, fungi, sparrowhawks and new bluetits

The fungi this year is amazing, I have now found three massive clumps, each one larger than I have ever seen before.

We have blue tits nesting in one of the nesting boxes, they must have a brood because they are constantly searching for food and returning to the nest with it.

The sparrowhawk has fed well on the smaller birds in the garden, sadly the nut seed and fat holders are full and yet they wait in vain for visitors, therefore I was pleased to see a pair of great tits at the feeding station this morning. The disappointment came as I watched them and noticed they were spending longer craning their necks and looking around than actually eating.

Leaves are rapidly changing colour now and the far reaching views are startlingly beautiful. Last nights sunset was one of the best I have seen.

Water and wayside wildlife, fungi and a weasel

We still love to walk by the river, always looking out for kingfishers and herons, very occasionally we see a barn owl. The tawny owls are very noisy at the moment, calling back and forth to each other every night. This time of year the river is particularly beautiful, with its autumnal reflections and the drifts of fallen autumn leaves in their myriad colours floating serenely past.

We walked by the river late this afternoon, two beautiful swans, a pair of Canada geese and an amazing amount of mallards all swam to the bank for food as we passed.

It is surprising how many flowers are still in bloom and the hedgerows are prettied up by not only by the wonderful colours of autumn leaves, but also by the bright berries, it seems a good year for berries, the hedgerows are particularly thick with them. I am also finding fungi in surprising places, today I found the largest clump that I have ever seen, in the middle of a stretch of open grassland, which has the sun on it for most of the day.

The other day we had the pleasure of watching a weasel, he wasn't the least bit worried about us, he kept popping up in front of us and just standing there on his hind legs, hands clasped together, watching us.

Badger and fox harmony at last

It hasn't taken long for the badger to realise the foxes mean him no harm.

This evening we put the fox food out as usual and were delighted when we checked the lawn and saw two foxes and one badger all eating together. There appeared to be no animosity between them.

A stand off between the badger and three foxes

Food out as usual tonight and well spread across the lawn. We don't have long to wait, three foxes and one badger appear, it is clear who is dominant.

The foxes are very wary of the badger and all stand well back, each time the foxes attempt to approach the food the badger rushes them and they hastily move back.

The badger eats  and moves faster than I have ever seen the foxes move.

Foxes are supposed to be cunning, these foxes have eaten here all of their lives, I will be interested to see if they can come up with a strategy to make sure this continues.