Red Alert

I had the most exciting visitor to the garden yesterday evening.   The first I have seen here for three years, and that was only a glimpse.  I heard a panicked alarm from the tree sparrows in the kitchen garden and thought I was too close to the nest boxes, although the sparrows don't usually take much notice of me.  When I looked up this was what I saw.

The squirrel ran across the kitchen garden, up the hedge, and then across the roof.  He disappeared towards the bird feeders.

When I got round to the other side of the house he was climbing down the woodpecker feeder

and then spent the next 25 minutes under the bird feeders.  It was interesting that the other birds took no notice of the squirrel on the ground.  I think the tree sparrows are the only birds that still have nests.

It is wonderful to see here and gives me hope that they may hang on despite the influx of American greys.