Agile Reds at Underscar

After reading ' Rowan The Red Squirrel' by Fran Foster, where Rowan is a young agile red squirrel learning skills to be an adult, I decided to see if I could capture similar behaviour in the Underscar juvenile reds.

The red squirrels at Underscar tend to use the same routes through the trees to get to the feeders. So I positioned myself at the top of the woodland walk and sat in wait.

This young juvenile soon appeared. Having been born late in the summer, his moult into the thicker winter coat started later. Head moult and side of body moult isn't quite finished. It is a hard life for red squirrels born towards the end of summer as they really need to busy themselves storing food for the winter.

He peeps round the tree to see if it is all clear to make his way to the feeder.

Down the juvenile red moves headfirst. I am often asked how it does this. The answer is that they have ankle joints that are adapted to be super flexible. When a red squirrel wants to climb down it can rotate its feet 180 degrees, digging its claws into the trunk and hanging from its back legs.

In human terms this would mean that you could rotate your feet around until they were pointing backwards.

This juvenile red is using his sharp claws to show what a super climber he is. What a prize he carries to eat high in the canopy.

Down near the feeder this young juvenile just manages to hold onto the branch without tipping over.

He is building up leg muscle all the time so that he can climb always keeping his balance.

Nearly balanced; he just needs to pull himself up so all legs are on the branch. How tempting those hazelnuts seem.

He made it successfully just pausing to look down at another red squirrel who is approaching the feeder. On this photo the moult can be clearly seen.

I also was able to observe more agility in a juvenile red by its balancing acts.

This one is very well positioned to enjoy its hazelnut. However not for long as another red is just approaching. A quick glance down assures this red that it is in no danger and he finishes off his kernel.

Underscar timeshare owners are able to borrow this booklet from Oxley's reception at Underscar apartments near Applethwaite in Cumbria.

Foraging for Breakfast.

They say, " the early bird catches the worm. " That is why this photographer is filling the feeder with hazelnuts at 5.30am on an August morning.I didn't have to wait long before a red squirrel came for breakfast.

The squirrel held the nut in its jaw and scampered along the wall displaying wonderful agility skills, as captured when tracking the movement with my camera. It took 7 seconds to travel the length of the wall and into the wood.

A little while later the same red squirrel returns to select a hazelnut and stays to eat the nut whilst perched on the branch.

The same red squirrel returns for a third helping of hazelnuts which it buries to hopefully find later.

A red squirrel has an exceptionally good sense of smell.They can find buried food underneath a foot of snow and know if a nut is rotten without opening it. Hope this red squirrel finds this nut during the winter. 

This photographer is now going for her breakfast!

Picture Perfect.

Every season of the year has its own problems when trying to get the red squirrels to pose for the perfect photograph.

June, July and August are my favourite times to photograph the red squirrels on the Underscar Estate. I will get up around 5.30 am and wander around the grounds.

In July 2014 one of these early morning walks proved to be very special to me. I took the photo seen above.This photo was chosen by artist Madeline Harper to create a pastel drawing of this subject.

The pastel drawing was then exhibited in the East Cheshire Hospice Art Fair 2014 at Macclesfield Town Hall in September. The sale of the artwork is a great fundraiser for the hospice.

I was thrilled when we visited the exhibition to see the Underscar Red Squirrel exhibited. It became a treasured moment for me when later Madeline told me the pastel had sold on the first evening.

Quite often in August I use a selection of logs with hazelnuts hidden in the crevices on the Derwent patio. The red squirrels soon discover them and pose perfectly by the logs.

Posing with a beautifully bleached summer tail.

A female posing with a beautiful white bib.

This male shows off his variation of the darker tail.

Thank-you Madeline from taking one of these photos from my blog and producing a pastel for me. It was a lovely surprise moment for me in 2014 when you gave it to me at the Art Exhibition.

Pastel of an Underscar Red Squirrel by Madeline Harper.

Will Aniseed draw out the Underscar Red Squirrels?

Young wildlife explorers, Ben and Matthew, joined me again at Underscar to carry on with their red squirrel investigations.

A camouflaged Matthew chooses the wall where he can look straight onto the patio of Grange Apartment. Behind, Ben looks for a good vantage point.

We had read an article in The Westmorland Gazette which stated that red squirrels were having a ball at a Lake District holiday park since aniseed was introduced to their feeding mix.

Matthew and Ben thought that this theory could be worth testing out with our Underscar Red Squirrel colony. Grange patio was set up with two feeding stations. The feeding station with the hazelnuts inside the log was treated with aniseed. The feeding station with the hazelnuts inside the coconut shape was left untreated with aniseed.

We were able to find all our materials to set this up from the woodland walk.

Matthew uses the aniseed spray to treat the top and inside of the log.

Our first visitor ( A Dunnock) seems interested in the hazelnuts.

We then get into a vantage point where we think we can sit and wait and observe for some length of time.

You can just make out that Matthew has some camouflage face paints to help break up his outline.

Ben is ready to get that photo using a camouflage sheet to part cover up.

This red squirrel prefers its hazelnut treated with aniseed as it comes back to the feeder many times.

We notice the red flash going through its tail.

The red squirrel is so keen to get its hazelnut from the treated feeder that it sneaks right inside.

On looking back through our record of red squirrel photos we see that we had captured a photo of this red squirrel when it was just a kit (baby red squirrel).

This red squirrel was a baby last year.It has fended and foraged for itself well to make it into its second year.

We decided that the aniseed worked well in the feeder. During the testing out of this we experienced wet weather. Most of the text book information on red squirrels states that they are less active on cold,wet or windy days. The Underscar squirrels disprove this often visiting during heavy downpours.

Using its tail as an umbrella.This time it is taking a hazelnut from the other end of the log.

On speaking with Ben and Matthew we thought it would be a good idea to place a cuddly red squirrel in the reception area.

Here he is. Meet Oxley - our cuddly little red squirrel friend.You can take him out with you on your adventures, then write in the book and tell us about your day.

Matthew took him out on an adventure with all his family. His grandma managed to find another Oxley while they were out; so Matthew can now go home with his own Oxley.

Looking back over our red squirrel photos, I chose one which I thought looks like Oxley.

Thank you, Ben and Matthew, for your help again.