Red Squirrel – Donich Website

Two Squirrels one Feeder

donich_admin — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 19:27:24 +0000

The more innocent readers may not get the reference in the title (don’t worry about it Mum)…..

Anyway – these two squirrels were very funny. We have a new peanut feeder that they have had a bit of difficulty getting used to but finally seemed to have mastered. It is a deal bigger than the other feeders, and yesterday there were two on it at the same time, one head up and the other tail up. I’m surprised they tolerated sharing as they don’t usually get on well together.

Squirrel proof bird pole

donich_admin — Wed, 27 May 2015 12:46:59 +0000

Some time ago my Mum bought me a bird pole for a present. I’ve put it just outside the kitchen window and it has been a constant source of interest ever since. We’ve had a wider of variety of birds since we had it – we’ve started to have regular visits from siskins and occasional visits from woodpeckers – neither of which we had this time last year.

However one rather amusing thing is that I noticed on the packing when I was setting the pole up that it was ‘guaranteed squirrel proof’. I guess this is aimed at people down south where the local squirrels are grey, common and a bit of a plague rather than up here where they are red, rare (well not rare around here but rare in the country in general) and very sweet. But the pole has failed its guarantee – I don’t know how this little chap managed it, but he got on to the pole somehow and was feasting away on the sunflower seeds.

Pine Marten and a dilemma

donich_admin — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 19:21:31 +0000

I was just getting ready to go out this morning when I glanced out of the kitchen window. There was a large pine marten sitting on the bird table eating peanuts. On the rare occasions I have seen him in the daytime before it has only been for a short time as the cats always seem to turn up and see him off. This time, however, he stayed for about 15 minutes and we managed to get some great video and photos of him.

The dilemma was that for part of the time we could see two red squirrels trying to come to the table to feed. Whilst seeing them both in the same shot made for a good photo, we had no desire for the marten to catch one right in front of us (hypocritical I know). So we were constantly on edge and ready to scare the marten and/or squirrels off if necessary. Luckily it wasn’t necessary and the marten left in his own sweet time.

In the picture the squirrel is highlighted in red – unfortunately due to the size and resolution of the image very difficult to show both it and the marten at the same time.

Nice Red Squirrel clip

donich_admin — Sat, 18 Apr 2015 10:58:38 +0000

I got some good footage of one of our squirrels on the new thumbnail camera yesterday. Close up and in colour as well.

In which Marten nearly catches a squirrel

donich_admin — Mon, 26 May 2014 19:31:39 +0000

I don’t believe the fantastic week we have had for wildlife sightings here. First the otter – and then on Wednesday (when unfortunately we were out), our Marten visited for a lengthy period during the afternoon. He obviously came for a snack on the nuts, and then decided that he would have a try for a main course of squirrel! He didn’t get one on this occasion, although he came pretty close.

I would not much have liked to see it if he had caught one because they are charming little creatures (although not as sweet as they look because they do not get on with each other), but that must be a wildlife lover’s dilemma because the Marten has to eat and squirrels are one of his main foods.

Then this afternoon R saw him near the greenhouse and we both watched him for a minute or so before he disappeared into the grass. I actually thought we would see less of the carnivores in summer when their food supply is plentiful, but I was obviously wrong.

Poo

marionmccune — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 15:32:21 +0000

I was reading more on Pine Martens the other night. One fact I didn’t know is that although they eat red squirrels, their presence deters the spread of greys because they are better at catching them than they are the reds. Another fact I didn’t know is that they have distinctive faeces which are black and twisted looking (and also apparently smell floral).

When I was feeding the birds today I noticed that we have some poo which corresponds to this description near the bird feeders. I am not getting down on my knees to see what it smells like (!) but this is the first evidence of the elusive marten we have seen. Unfortunately the fox has similar looking poo so we may be disappointed yet.

Argyll Wildlife

marionmccune — Sat, 14 Sep 2013 21:12:46 +0000

Was having a look at a wildlife book to see what we can expect to see once we get out to Lochgoilhead. The vast majority of the ‘big attractions’ seem to be in the area – i.e. Golden Eagle, Red Squirrel, Wildcat, Pine Marten. Also there are red deer, foxes, badgers, hedgehogs sundry small rodents and down at the loch grey seals, porpoises and whales. The one I have always wanted to see (of the ones that are reasonably likely – the wildcat isn’t unfortunately) is a pine marten and I notice from the website of a holiday home across the loch that they have them in their garden.
My only concern with all of this is how the cats will get on. Research and common sense tells me that top predators tend to treat each other with wary respect, so I hope we don’t have anything to be worried about.