I had a surprise this morning when I looked outside. There was something large attacking the bird feeder. It seems that one of the local squirrels has discovered our garden. As far as I can recall this is the first time I've seen a squirrel in the garden. A year or so ago I caught a brief glimpse of one in a neighbouring garden, but for some reason (an over abundance of foxes perhaps) they've kept their distance until now. So that's another creature to keep watch for out there, to add to the foxes, wood mice and occasional hedgehog. Plus of course the birds which now flock to the seed feeders. It can get quite busy out there at times!
The wood mouse was back again tonight. I've been worried about this little one as a couple of weeks ago it showed up with its tail in a frightful state. It seems fine now and the wounds (probably inflicted by another wood mouse – they fight among themselves apparently) are healing nicely.
To complete the collection mammals for today, the young fox was back again.
Mickeyjoe-Irl
13 Sep 2007😆 They way that mouse peeks around the side of the feeder always cracks me up.
SittingFox
13 Sep 2007Lovely pictures! Hope the squirrel doesn't eat you out of house and home. The big Nuttery feeders (the ones in cages) seem to more or less squirrel proof – they're able to get the tops off, but that's it – but I'm dubious about some of the other ones. I once had an RSPB squirrel-proof feeder that survived less than half an hour :eyes:
Flying Red Fox Blog
13 Sep 2007Nice Squirrell:D They look less plump than the ones in the park lol:P
Good to see the woodmouses tail getting better, they can survive this kind of thing, when i had Gerbils, one got its tail caught in the lid and it came right off! He was ok though, but their tail never grows again so it becomes stumpy, all i have to do is make sure it didnt get infected, they squeak like mad though! Its a defence against predators i think.
Nice to see the Fox again, your garden is very busy lol:D I wonder what Roofy is up to these days.
Words
13 Sep 2007Mickeyjoe, you're so right. Other than when occasionally I can get a clear shot in the tree, those are my favourites. It's his eating position, so he's usually got a piece of nut in his hand.
Adele, so far so good. It the greedy greenfinches that are eating us out of house and home. They empty the upright seed feeder in a day. The squirrel is still investigating, but was back this morning.
Mark, I'm not surprised they're a bit skinnier. They have to work for their food. Park squirrels have it easy 😉 Must have been a shock for the gerbil (and for you :yikes:) when its tail came off. I'm glad it recovered. I hadn't thought about defence against predators but it makes sense. As for the foxes we've not seen Roofy for a while. He may have found somewhere quieter to live. It's been like Piccadilly Circus out there lately.
cakkleberrylane
18 Sep 2007Beautiful photos, as always. Very happy bunch of animals you have there!
Words
18 Sep 2007Thanks Lois. They seem pretty contented. The new feeders have brought more life into the garden. 🙂
chthoniid
20 Sep 2007Great night pictures- what lens are you using for the wood-mouse? Does the mouse let you get reasonably close?
Words
20 Sep 2007Brendan, I'm fairly sure those were taken with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM, but I have resorted to the macro lens on occasion.
Yes I was reasonably close! On a good night I'm within about 2 feet of the mouse. Sometimes it scampers off after one or two shots, but if it's in a good mood I can wander round the feeder and it doesn't seem to mind the camera at all. Mostly I set the camera to ISO 100, crank the flash down almost as far as it will go. I shoot at around f/9 or f/10 and between 1/125-1/200sec depending on how far away I am. The main difficulty is not blowing out the highlights 🙂
chthoniid
21 Sep 2007Thanks- you looked like you got close to the mouse. I can see the value of having a macro lens for these shots too. Flash photography is a real art-
– so , how many lenses do you own now? 🙂
Words
21 Sep 2007Just the four lenses:
EF70-300mm 4.5-5.6 DO IS
EF 24-105 F4L IS USM
EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS
Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro
What I really need to explore next are extenders and such like.
chthoniid
21 Sep 2007🙂 I wonder how many people who own 1-2 lenses would regard that as 'just' 4 lenses 🙂
Are you thinking of expanding your macro shots with the extenders?
Confession time- I own 6 lenses, and am pondering number 7… 😉
cakkleberrylane
21 Sep 2007In the days of the old film cameras, I did a lot of astronomical photography and had a 400mm lens. It was adequate, but my dad gave me a doubler effectively making it 800mm. Excellent quality for the money!
Words
21 Sep 2007The four lenses is getting close to what I can use, but I can see me adding over time. A true wide angle lens, a 5:1 macro maybe, but maybe tubes for the macro and an extender for the 100-400 will be a much cheaper route for the moment. Plus I must think seriously about a low level tripod. And someone to lug it all around for me!