Squirrels down the lane

I have occasionally photographed the Red Squirrels where I live but I had never seen them on a regular basis. This winter I even started leaving a few hazelnuts out, hoping for that beautiful shot in the snow but it wasn't to be.

In recent weeks myself and a good friend had started to notice them more and had both got a few shots in the same place. A few weekends ago, we decided to stop by the area on our way back from an early shoot along the coast. Within 10 minutes we had four Red Squirrels darting about between us and some gardens.

There was a lovely little tree stump in the corner which looked like it would make the perfect place for a shot. It was one of the first places to get the early morning sun and would make a lovely natural shot. The stump was quite old and I managed to get a few hazelnuts into the stump out of my line of sight. I only had to wait about 5 minutes before one of the Squirrels had come to the stump and taken the bait. At first they would take the nut and run out of sight but I only had to wait a short while before one of the Squirrels sat on the edge of the stump and ate one.The next time I was able to visit the squirrels it was Easter Sunday and I was really wanted to try something a little different. On arriving at the area there were two little patches of primroses. It was perfect, but would it work? I positioned a hazelnut behind the primroses that I wanted in shot and waited. Initially they went straight to the tree stump but eventually this little one stood right behind them. It couldn't have been any better. I have a few shots but liked this one the best with its little paws up and staring out of shot. The first few shots the squirrel was facing into the space on the left which worked perfectly for the composition and I feel still works very well with this pose too.

This shot is of the odd one out of the bunch. Its' coat is much paler, almost a grey brown colour rather than red and also was the most jumpy of all the squirrels. But I like a challenge and was very pleased with this one.

Every time I watch squirrels I can't help but think of Eddie Izzard doing stand up and talking about the way squirrels always seem to stop and have that look of 'did I leave the oven on, no I'm a squirrel'. This one looks like I've caught him doing something shifty.

Over the next few days I came back and had a lovely time photographing the Red Squirrels. I even introduced another log as the first log had been half destroyed by a fox late one evening. The smell of the fox was quite strong and I had pushed some peanuts deep into the stump for a little challenge for a couple of Jays. The fox had obviously been desperate to get at the nuts deep in the stump that the Jay couldn't reach.

After spending a few days at this spot I soon realised that this little patch of ground was a haven for wildlife. I will post more images from the area in a later blog.

I liked this image as it looks as if the squirrel thought I couldn't see it hiding behind the new log. One morning the grass was quite damp and this little chap would stop and shake himself violently almost looking like he was trying to turn himself into a drill.

I still liked the idea of using the primroses in shot but wanted more from the squirrels. This time I positioned a nut right in the middle of the flowers and this little squirrel entered from stage right and didn't forget his lines. Those primroses never smelt so sweet.

I would really like to get some good shots of them in the tree but there is an awful lot of small branches between me and their trees. Here are a couple of my images so far.

For this image I had hid myself in the shadows and low branches of a tree and some bushes to get a little closer. It gave me a great angle on the squirrels playground.

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