Black headed grosbeaks this time of year come sporadically to the yard to eat seed. The air is filled right now with a lot of tiny insects so for a lot of the day they are out eating bugs.
This one stopped by for a bit yesterday. There are still nuthatches, house finches, flickers and chickadees around. I especially like when a flock of pigeons come to the yard because they pick up a lot of the seed that the other birds throw out of the feeders on to the ground.
He finally saw me taking his photo and then jumped down to the ground.
I learned something yesterday. I was watching a squirrel up in a cedar incense tree and she was eating the bark of branches. This is something I didn't know they do. I thought they were all about nuts and seeds. Cedar Incense trees have a really soft wood and they must supply some type of nourishment for the squirrels.
In one photo you can see her "finger" start to pick off some wood.
This one stopped by for a bit yesterday. There are still nuthatches, house finches, flickers and chickadees around. I especially like when a flock of pigeons come to the yard because they pick up a lot of the seed that the other birds throw out of the feeders on to the ground.
He finally saw me taking his photo and then jumped down to the ground.
I learned something yesterday. I was watching a squirrel up in a cedar incense tree and she was eating the bark of branches. This is something I didn't know they do. I thought they were all about nuts and seeds. Cedar Incense trees have a really soft wood and they must supply some type of nourishment for the squirrels.
In one photo you can see her "finger" start to pick off some wood.
So this is what I found when I did a quick research
Squirrels use bark in their nests. When bark is removed from trees, the cambium layer with sugars and nutrients is exposed. Squirrels often eat that layer when other food is scarce, particularly in the winter. Chewing on bark can also maintain the health of a squirrel's teeth
12 comments:
Wow, interesting info on squirrels eating bark and why and then you have some beautiful photos of both the bird and the squirrel. Really clear pictures!
thanks Laura - this time of year I enjoy bird watching and then i enjoy learning new things ..so that squirrel thing was cool. She caught my attention in the tree and I started seeing her eating the bark ..how weird ...but then reading why it seems so natural.
That is interesting that squirrels can eat bark. I didn't know it. You took wonderful photos of a squirrel and it's not easy to do because they are moving so fast.
I have never seen this colorful bird before. It's very beautiful!
The first belly is pretty. Squirrels. We have so many but sadly here, they cause a great deal of damage to both our shed, under the trailer, in the walls and the roof. Fun to see them playing in the woods by our home but again, far too much damage they bring to us here.
Squirrels are not easy to photograph.
The specimen is beautiful.
Gorgeous photography of lovely feathered friends and busy squirrel ~ wonder what you use for a photo edit program? ~ or do you?
Be Well,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
thanks ...i enjoyed your comments.
carol ..i still use the old Picasa program even though they don't update or support it anymore. If I get a pic i really want to salvage ...i will take it in to Corel and there i can sharpen or desaturate etc as needed. Sometimes my pics come out way too saturated for some reason and I have to tone them down.
so these are tree squirrels vs ground squirrels. (Happy Whisk)...i think it would probably be the ground squirrels that are causing the damage. We first had some in 2013 when we moved here but the cats scared them away. I kind of miss them , lol..they were cute to watch. now the tree squirrels are different here but don't cause damage like you talked about.
Kaya - yes sure surprised me.
Hey Sandy. I'm not sure but these squirrels mostly live the trees. We found their homes in hollow trees in our yard. But ... we also have massive black walnut trees so ... they take those walnuts and hid them in the shed, under the trailer, in the hollow trees. Everywhere. They cause a great deal of damage just hiding the walnuts. Our trailer is right near the woods. So lots of dear, jumping crazy high flying squirrels, raccoons and other critters.
Squirrels can be fun to photograph. They are always up to something! And they're natural acrobats, which makes it quite amusing.
Hi Sandy. I looked it up, just now. We have tree squirrels and they are the ones doing the damage to the shed BUT, we live right on the edge of all the trees that they live in. I'm looking at an image of a ground squirrel and I've not seen one of those yet here. Chipmunks we see and moles but mostly we have many, many tree squirrels with giant black walnut trees that they sit in and eat black walnuts.
One of them sits just in this one spot on the black walnut tree eating his little nut like it's the happiest day ever. Too cute. I often wonder how he's not cold up there.
We live in a rural area. When Tim (hubby), was a kid, he used to have a tree squirrel that came in and out of the dryer vent area, into the house and would sleep in Tim's hoodie as he was wearing it. He came and went and went and came and one day, Kevin (I think was his name), just stopped showing up.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. Wishing you a yummy day!
Stunning photos!
I didn't even know they came in orange. It is pretty bird.
Post a Comment