A Squirrel named Flick
Let me introduce you to a red squirrel named Flick.
A mischievous character who I met on this beautifully sunny, first day of March.
I dubbed this squirrel after his namesake in the movie, "A Christmas Story". The boy who, after taking a triple dog dare, got his tongue well and truly stuck to a flag pole. Here is Flick with his predicament.
It looks hilarious, but no, Flick isn't really stuck. This behaviour is brought on when the caches of food for winter have all but run out, and it also coincides with the rising of the sap in trees, particularly maple trees as they have the highest sugar content.
Here is Flick on a different tree, first giving the branch a little hug.
And then chomp, in go the incisors. A bite deep enough to tap into the tree's xylem tissue. The sap then starts to flow from the wound, and Flick will return to lick off the sugary residue when most of the moisture has evaporated.
The male red-winged blackbirds have returned to stake a claim to their territories. The red squirrels are making use of the rising sap from maple trees, and the temperature rose from -12 C this morning all the way up to 2 C. Things are definitely looking up. I think I'll celebrate with another red-winged blackbird photo.
I was able to locate the second red-winged blackbird on the far side of the lake this morning and got just close enough for these photos.
As I mentioned earlier, it was another really cold morning, but the air was still and the sun shone gloriously over the treetops. It reflected off the snow and the newly made crystal sculptures with an almost painful brightness.
If you look closely at the next photo, you can see the ice crystals that formed through the clear night, standing out like hairs on the bare branches. This male cardinal had found the perfect spot to warm up in the early morning sun.
The birds were loving the warmth of the sunlight. I saw white-throated sparrows, chickadees galore and so many white-breasted nuthatches.
Dark-eyed juncos also.
But what I was really trying to take a photo of and what was so far eluding me were the bluejays. This was, unfortunately, the best I could do today.
During the process of following the group of bluejays around though, I did come across three red-tailed hawks who flew up from the reed beds.
And was surprised by this hairy woodpecker who appeared out of nowhere right beside me.
And who I then somehow managed to catch in mid-leap.
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A mischievous character who I met on this beautifully sunny, first day of March.
I dubbed this squirrel after his namesake in the movie, "A Christmas Story". The boy who, after taking a triple dog dare, got his tongue well and truly stuck to a flag pole. Here is Flick with his predicament.
It looks hilarious, but no, Flick isn't really stuck. This behaviour is brought on when the caches of food for winter have all but run out, and it also coincides with the rising of the sap in trees, particularly maple trees as they have the highest sugar content.
Here is Flick on a different tree, first giving the branch a little hug.
And then chomp, in go the incisors. A bite deep enough to tap into the tree's xylem tissue. The sap then starts to flow from the wound, and Flick will return to lick off the sugary residue when most of the moisture has evaporated.
The male red-winged blackbirds have returned to stake a claim to their territories. The red squirrels are making use of the rising sap from maple trees, and the temperature rose from -12 C this morning all the way up to 2 C. Things are definitely looking up. I think I'll celebrate with another red-winged blackbird photo.
I was able to locate the second red-winged blackbird on the far side of the lake this morning and got just close enough for these photos.
As I mentioned earlier, it was another really cold morning, but the air was still and the sun shone gloriously over the treetops. It reflected off the snow and the newly made crystal sculptures with an almost painful brightness.
If you look closely at the next photo, you can see the ice crystals that formed through the clear night, standing out like hairs on the bare branches. This male cardinal had found the perfect spot to warm up in the early morning sun.
The birds were loving the warmth of the sunlight. I saw white-throated sparrows, chickadees galore and so many white-breasted nuthatches.
Dark-eyed juncos also.
But what I was really trying to take a photo of and what was so far eluding me were the bluejays. This was, unfortunately, the best I could do today.
And was surprised by this hairy woodpecker who appeared out of nowhere right beside me.
And who I then somehow managed to catch in mid-leap.
All in all, it was a very productive morning, and even as I walked back to my car I was stopped by the calls of a group of red-bellied woodpeckers who were working their way through the treetops.
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