We have three submissions today. First, a trio of very cute squirrel photos from reader Bradley Day of Ontario:
Inspired by the lovely snake and centipede photos that were recently posted (:-), I found some wildlife pics I took while camping that I thought I’d share.
Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) in Red Pine (Pinus resinosa). This is one spoiled little squirrel as it not only lives inside a tree located on a backcountry campsite on Lake Opeongo in Algonquin Park, but there’s a rustic homemade table attached to the tree just below, upon which unsuspecting campers who leave food out come back later to find it mysteriously missing.
Stephen Barnard sent two bird photos:
Hairy Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus villosus) being careful with the eyes, putting his safety glasses on.
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), one of the most common birds here. They’re quite trusting and adorable, I think.
Finally, Tara Tanaka told me that she has ten photos on the ‘shortlist’ for the Bird Photographer of the Year contest in the digiscoping category. The category prize is a Swarovski scope, but I think she’s already got one! The winners will be announced in August. I asked her to send me her five favorites among the ten shortliested photos, and here they are.
Great egret chicks (Ardea alba):
Great egret displaying:
Sadhill cranes (Grus canadensis; this is my favorite!):
Tri-colored heron (Egretta tricolor):
Western Screech Owl (Megascops kennicottii):
Wow, great stuff, thanks for sharing everyone!
Seeing the red squirrel pics reminds me of a question I’ve had for a while that perhaps a reader can answer: the grey squirrels (try) to make short work of the suet I put out, but the neighborhood red squirrels ignore it–how come? Every site I’ve seen says that they like it–but not mine!
Can’t help you, ’cause my Gray Squirrels love suet, too.
Have you tried various kinds & brands of suet?
I do think the Red Squirrels here eat a wider variety of food stuffs. They adore the large (& psychoactive) Amanita muscaria mushrooms, and when we have a nice crop you will find pieces of them impaled on tree branches where the squirrels are drying them for storage.
Extremely impressive series of photos today. Those Sandhill cranes are trippy, and my favorite as well.
We have a lot of black-capped chickadees here too. They like to nest in our birdhouses. I agree to their adorableness.
Oooh! Love the squirrel – especially the front view of his face! So cute! All the photos are just gorgeous.
The egret displaying between big baldcypress trunks is my favorite by a wide margin. It perfectly captures the magic of a southern swamp.
My fave as well–I love the composition. As you say, so evocative.
I’d hate to be a judge in that Bird Photographer of the Year contest. If that’s a sample of the quality of entries, and I imagine it is, it would be too hard to pick a winner.
Bradley, that squirrel is just too cute! 🙂
Stephen, how close to these birds are you when you get these fantastic close-ups?
Tara, if I could I’d certainly stuff the ballot box for any or all of these shots!
Btw, if you end up with too many Swarovski scopes, I’d be happy to take one off your hands…
Oh, cranes in the sunset are prettier than the crane photo I just posted.