Saturday 24 October 2009

Autumn, Seasons, and the Grey Squirrel

The two seasons of the year I enjoy the most are the Spring and Autumn. To me the Summer is the worst season as it's the most unpredictable, and it's either too hot for me or I get fed-up with being drenched in sudden downpours of horizontal rain (of the type that saturates and leaks through the left side of your jacket, yet leaves the right side stone dry!). At least in the Winter I know it's going to be cold, windy, dark, and frosty, and with surprisingly less horizontal rain than in the Summer, and it's far easier for me to wrap up warm against a cold climate than it is for me to keep cool in a hot sun-burning climate.

But there's also the transition of nature during the Spring and Autumn. Almost as though I'm not the only living being that prepares myself between the two extremes of Winter and Summer.

Where I live (In Salford) in an urban village I'm very lucky to be able to see these transitions of nature between the seasons, and in fact much of it happens right on my doorstep within the grounds of the little block of flats I live in. From the hedge sparrows, to cheeky chirpy blackbirds, and certainly to the antics of the Grey Squirrel!

Actually I took these next two photo's last Spring, but seeing as the grey squirrel is most active in both the Spring and the Autumn I guess it just about fits in with this Autumn.



I think the next photo shows just how well adapted the grey squirrel actually is to it's environment. Just compare those feet claws to those of the Red Squirrel.


Sadly this cheeky chap must have moved on. I guess it maybe due to the ground-floor tenant who used to put out the birdseed and nuts earlier this year has also moved on. However, a cheeky chirpy blackbird and some 'spuggies' are still there in that area of the garden. Who knows what next Spring will reveal?