Squirrels and Jays

As I haven't yet edited the pair of Hoopoes we saw, here are a few squirrel captures I made a couple of weeks ago. It is not a Portuguese custom to feed birds, unless it's bread for the ducks in our ponds. Therefore there is a limited supply of attractive bird feeders. The only ones available are the little wooden boxes, some of you may have seen in my posts. I just use anything, for the birds and for the squirrels. Here I've used a heavy glass plate,...so it wouldn't break, or be knocked off the table. At first the birds were wary,...but not the squirrels!  They hogged the table, establishing their dominance in the pecking order, and the Jays were next. Of course I refilled the plate after they had left, for the smaller birds, and then settled back in my hide again to watch them.

WE HAVE A COUPLE OF OLD BENCHES STACKED NEAR THE TABLE, WAITING TO BE DISMANTLED,
 

AND MADE INTO FIRE WOOD, AND THE SQUIRRELS JUMP FROM HERE TO THE TABLE.
 

THIS YOUNG SQUIRREL AND THE ONE ABOVE ARE ONE AND THE SAME.
 

THIS SQUIRREL JUMPED FROM THE TREE BEHIND,...
 

AND SO DID THIS ONE.
 

ANOTHER SQUIRREL, CHOSE A PEANUT, WENT TO EAT IT ELSEWHERE, AND RETURNED THREE TIMES.
 

THIS LITTLE SQUIRREL STAYED A LONG TIME, EATING THE SUNFLOWER SEEDS.
 

I TOOK THIS SHOT FROM OUR PATIO DOORS,...
 

AND THIS ONE.
 

THIS SQUIRREL AND THE NEXT ARE ONE AND THE SAME.
 

IT HAD SUCH A SWEET FACE.
 

A JAY ABOUT TO DRINK WATER FROM AN OLD DISH.
 

THE JAYS ARE USED TO SEEING MY BESPOKE HIDE.
 

AS I LEAVE IT OUTSIDE ALL SUMMER, BUT THEY HAVE NO IDEA I'M INSIDE.
 

IT'S SUCH FUN TO OBSERVE OUR GARDEN VISITERS THIS WAY.
 

MY MADE TO MEASURE HIDE. AMERICO HAD THE FRAME MADE...
 

AND I MADE THE COVER FROM AN OLD SHEET. I ZIP IT UP AT NIGHT TO KEEP THE INSECTS OUT.
 

MANY THANKS TO OUR GRACIOUS HOSTS. JUST CLICK ON THEIR LINKS TO SEE BIRDS, AND OTHER CREATURES FROM AROUND THE GLOBE. WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY

SATURDAY'S CRITTERS
I'D-RATHER-B-BIRDIN