He who sits in the shadow of his tail...

I have a visitor; maybe a local resident; in fact, I'm sure this little guy has recently moved into the area, since I have seen evidence of drey building. A grey squirrel. Nothing is more controversial, it seems, than this small rodent that has managed to co-exist with humans in this country for the last 150 years or so. In fact, I have had outright disagreements with people in defence of grey squirrels when out shooting (photographically).

Arguments tend to follow the lines of: They don't belong here; they cause a lot of damage to the environment; they are reducing the bird population, and they carry disease that is deadly to the native Red whilst they themselves are immune. Whilst the last point is true, they rarely threaten the protected colonies of Red squirrel My standard ripost to the other comments are: They didn't ask to be brought from North America; ...and humans don't? - and most indigenous birds die-off due to starvation in winter, because it is increasingly difficult for them to find food in reduced habitat. Again, human intervention, and the last point being the findings of the RSPCA. Whatever your stance on the subject is, this one is here to stay, and more than welcome.

It was last week when I saw him for the first time (it is a 'he'), taking materials up a nearby tree to build its nest, but then disappeared from the garden for a few days. He was more than likely about, but I had just not seen him. Then, this morning, he reappeared and was in search of food. I knew that if I left the house to photograph him he would be gone in an instant, so I was forced to shoot through an closed window. Not an ideal situation; shooting through less than optical quality glass, but I felt a shot was better than no shot - something that I constantly preach - so I got on and did it.

Something else I readily maintain is that good wildlife images can be had in your own garden or local park. Not only was I attempting to support this statement, I was going to be able to do so by not even leaving the house. Light levels on an overcast autumn day were low, and even though I was using the lens wide open - and on a monopod - it was still necessary to switch on the vibration reduction (VR) on the lens to get anything approaching a sharp shot.

I think it is time to employ a bit of field craft in future, and get myself outside.



300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor (VR on). 1/200 second at f/2.8. - 0.67 EV compensation. ISO 640


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