Black Squirrels in Toronto

 

I just returned from a trip to Canada, where I saw the famous Niagara Falls.

I also saw the less famous local black squirrels of Toronto! They have a coat-color mutation that seems particularly well suited to the area; black fur absorbs sunlight efficiently and helps keep them warm during cold Canadian winters. 

Just last year, I saw the famous white squirrels of Olney, Illinois. Click on this sentence to go to my blog about them.  The white fur mutation persists with help from local people who actively protect white squirrels. The squirrels have the right-of-way on the streets of Olney. 

 

Squirrels in New Jersey usually look like this. Black, white, and gray forms are different colors of the same species, the Eastern Gray Squirrel, for which this gray is the standard color. Reddish highlights are common. Click to enlarge.

Any questions? 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

One of our neighborhood turkeys. Click to enlarge.

 

November  

by Clyde Watson

November comes and November goes. 

With the last red berries and the first white snows.

With night coming early and dawn coming late. 

And ice in the bucket and frost on the gate.

The fires burn and the kettles sing.

The earth sinks to rest until next spring. 

 

Wishing you all another year filled with things to be thankful for! 

Halloween Aftermath

Halloween must seem like a free food windfall to squirrels. Click to enlarge. 

From this. 

To this.  

There are chewed up pumpkins all around. 

Because pumpkins are delicious and nutritious. 

And we love the corn, too. Thank you. 

New Neighbors

One gray squirrel in the maple tree hole. Click to enlarge.

Wait ... there's two!

Make that three! Cuteness overload!

Anti-squirrel Technology Fail

That cone is supposed to keep squirrels off the bird feeder? LoL! 
Click to enlarge.

Spring Birds in Winter

Remember the polar vortex winter we had last year? This robin came to my window every cold morning of it with his feathers so puffed up he looked downright chubby. I fed him raisins for breakfast straight through until spring. He's back! He (or someone who looks just like him) started looking in my windows a few weeks ago and is back in the habit of breakfasting on raisins at my place. 

Robins eat worms and insects and fresh fruits and berries when they can get them. We typically see robins stalking worms in short grass all through summer. When winter comes and the insects and worms hole up, robins change to a diet primarily of dried fruit. Some robins migrate to warmer places, but some just disappear from lawns and form winter flocks that travel to different kinds of foraging areas. 

White-throated sparrows are behaving differently in deference to winter, too. They have started to show up on my porch where I haven't seen them since last winter. I see them in the neighborhood all year, but they only visit the porch in winter (even though they would likely find a snack of seeds in any season). Click to enlarge.

New York City's northern mockingbirds tend to stay put during the winter, but it might seem like they have gone south. We are used to their flashy wing-waving and tireless singing; in winter they become relatively quiet. They visit my porch for raisins. 

I usually hear my favorites, the blue jays, before I see them. I give them peanuts in the shell. They make repeated trips until they have gathered them all. But they have to share with...

Northern cardinals that always seem happy to pose in the snow in return for peanuts... 

and Brooklyn squirrels! 

Gathering Nest Material

A house sparrow with a mouthful of dry grass. 

A red-tailed hawk with a stick. 

A squirrel carrying dry leaves. 

A lot of nest-building going on this week!