Searching for Red Squirrels

 Thursday 12th September. Day 26

Another sunny day! John and I walked Dex along the front and then I set off to Morton Lochs in the hope of seeing some red squirrels. John had had enough walking so stayed behind with Dex and did the planning ahead for the next leg of our journey. 

I set off across the golf course, looking out for flying golf balls! 

Soon the path left the golf course and went past some fields.

There were horses.

Soon I arrived at Morton Lochs. There were several bird hides and a squirrel hide. 

I set off through the woods hoping to spot a squirrel.

I came to the first bird hide. Nothing much happening.

The second bird hide with a swan.

I loved these bulrushes.

I came to the squirrel hide. To be honest I was quite disappointed as I thought it would be in the middle of the woods to give the squirrels shelter and make it less obvious they were being watched. When I saw red squirrels previously, the hide was a wooden wall with peepholes. This hide had a massive opening and the feeders were on tree stumps out in the open.

I didn’t think any self respecting squirrel would fall for this. I waited but no squirrels came. 

There was a female mallard duck.

A chaffinch.

A great tit.

A little robin.

I left the hide and decided to go back into the woods. I had seen a bench under the trees which had feeders on. 

I sat on the bench quietly and waited. After a few minutes I could hear some distant rustling noises. I froze. 

I could make out a red squirrel up in the trees.

It came down on the tree trunk and stared right at me! It was magical. I could see its little face and feet. It was unbelievably cute! It was a darker red than the ones I had seen before. I had forgotten how tiny they are compared to the imposter greys. There was no chance to photograph it as next thing it shot off like a rocket across the ground and I just managed to capture a photo of it disappearing. 

It was just so lovely to see. I waited in case any more came but nothing else so headed off. 

On the way back I was walking through the woods and saw something in the distance. It was another squirrel!

It was quite far away but if you look carefully you can just see it on the trunk of the fourth tree from the right on the right side of the trunk. 

You can just see its tail in this photo. Not exactly Autumn watch standard but I was absolutely thrilled especially as this was completely in the wild, rather than a feeding station. 

I walked back to the campsite. At the cafe next door two Oyster catchers flew over me and landed on the grass.

Later on Dex and I went for a walk.

We saw a curlew on the mud flats. It’s been a great day for seeing wildlife 🥰

Later on we went outside as the Aurora Borealis was forecasted to appear. You couldn’t see anything with the naked eye but I did catch a glimpse on my phone camera. Not spectacular but still thrilled that I have finally got to see it!