We have an abundance of Northern Gray Squirrels. A whole bunch! And they're feeding antics are QUITE interesting! So, this week's nature study focused on our backyard SQUIRRELS.
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| Squirrel Eating Seeds and Nuts from the Ground | | | | |
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| 6 of our Regular Squirrel Visitors |
Gray Squirrel Tidbits- they weigh approximately 16-18 ounces and are 12-21 inches in length
- their gray bushy tails are "bordered" by white
- their daily movements are within 200 yards
- females have 1-2 litters each year with 2-3 young born in each litter
- each squirrel may bury up to 1000 nuts a year
- they are primarily herbivores
- they may live up to 6 years in the wild
- they prefer to live in woodland
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| Look-out Squirrel |
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| Climbing down the Tree |
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Jumping to the Ground |
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| Eating Food from the Feeder |
During the week we noticed one of our larger squirrels had a missing tail! S/he has a 2-3" stump so the kids have affectionately called it "Stumpy". We talked about how important a squirrel's tail is to its survival - balance, agility, warmth, protection - and wonder how it'll continue to thrive.
And had a few
QUICK glances of our fleeting, timid little red squirrel.
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| Red Squirrel |
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| Red Squirrel Sharing a Feast with a Blue Jay |
We also observed a flock of MALE Dark-eyed Juncos, 7-8 Blue Jays, a few Black-capped Chickadees and Tufted Titmice, and our lone male Northern Cardinal. We were happy to see our beautiful Cardinal again! And a new species: a Red-wing Blackbird! We're
VERY excited to see this bird as he's a migrator and a sure sign of Spring!
6 squirrels...we thought we had a lot with three! Love the photo with the squirrel and the jay eating together. :)
ReplyDeleteLovely notebook pages and you learned so much to record this time! Thank you so much for sharing your nature study with the OHC.
How fun! That is a great idea for a nature study. We have a ton of squirrels out right now too, not at our house though, but at the front of our neighborhood where there are tons of trees. I don't know what our squirrels are though, we are in the south. Hmmm, I may steal your nature study idea! ;o) Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteYour family captured some wonderful photos of squirrels! Very cute! What's in the squirrel's snack? Bananas, apples, and almonds? I'd like to make some for our squirrels!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! You do have a lot of squirrels and I'm sorry to see all that snow still on the ground! ;) The squirrel snack is a great idea, too. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
ReplyDeleteLove the squirrel snack! Because just this afternoon I saw one of our resident gray squirrels sneak away with the suet treat we'd just put out for the birds. Arg! So, I sure enjoyed seeing your variety of squirrels. Gives me a better appreciation for them :) Lovely notebook pages.
ReplyDeleteYou took some great photos!!! I love nature studies, they can be so fun! Great job!
ReplyDeleteYour photos are wonderful. I love to watch squirrels, they always look like they are having so much fun. Hopefully we'll get to our squirrel study this week.
ReplyDeleteGreat study! Squirrels are a lot of fun to watch, but we have yet to do an "official" nature study on them. Your journal pages look great!
ReplyDeleteI love that shot of the squirrel with the blue jay! Little friends. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for stopping by my blog!
I absolutely love the notebook pages. Such thought went into them. I bet they never forget it.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures! All of our squirrels seem to be in hiding for the winter.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun nature study! We don't get squirrels in our backyard, but I'm hoping to get our backyard set up as a wildlife sanctuary eventually, so maybe one day... Thanks for stopping by my blog, it's always nice to "meet" other bloggers!
ReplyDeleteI did not know squirrels weighed so little.
ReplyDeleteThose are great pictures.