Startled!

[Charlie]

The wee fella got quite a fright when he realised I was watching from very close quarters!

[stevedevil]

Great capture, we can all say that it would be good to see his feet, cropping tight etc, but these little fella's dont hang about!!

Amazing detail, did you place some food for the shot?? or just right place at right time ??

[Heather]

love the expression on his face !

[NannyFerret]

You captured the look on his face just at the right moment.

[Denis]

Great image, how close were you?

[annie]

brilliant capture..i so want to see a red squirrel .... every time i go to the isle of wight i hope to see one...

[KateW]

Fantastic! Love the expression!

[Kobione]

Fantastic. A great example of right place, right time!

[Charlie]

Thanks folks. I should explain a bit about the squirrels. A few years ago I set up a wooden hide in a piece of woodland. I used to see maybe one or two Red Squirrels a year in the area, so they were by no means common. After the hide was up & working & I was taking shots of the local birds, what turned up one day but a Red Squirrel. Soon (with a bit of squirrel food) there were several coming. At the peak it was common to see 10 at the one time. Then disaster struck. Machines moved in to thin the trees in the neighbouring woodland & within weeks the numbers went down to a max of 4 at the hide. I kept on feeding & gradually the numbers recovered until now I have squirrels moving out into new areas. Red Squirrels are an endangered species in the UK & live with the constant threat of the deadly squirrel pox carried by the Grey Squirrel. This is why Greys tend to die if seen around here. There is a Red Squirrel project going on & they use my pictures for their publicity work etc. I meanwhile continue to feed my wee Red pals ( now feeding two seperate areas & am also thinning trees in our own 20 acre wood. This is to allow tree crowns to develop ( bigger crowns, more cones & drey sites) You will probably think me mad but I spend in excess of £2k of my own money every year trying to help out the wee reds. I trudge round that wood every morning around 6am in all weathers & at this time of year, in the dark, putting out food for them. They in turn continue to breed & they also allow me to take a few pictures.

Sorry for the long winded speel but I thought you might be interested.

As to photo distances. I used lenses from 50mm to macro, 70-200 & 300mm. You know you are close to a squirrel when its tail brushes your cheek! :thumbsu:

[Leon]

in my eyes Charlie your a star for caring!!

I love squezza's, the reds are awesome, sadly up in the NW as far as I know they only exist at Formby point in Merseyside, have only ever seen a few myself, never captured such a good mage as yours though.

[annie]

wonderful information charlie, thanks for that. i am glad those nasty grey's die there...we have nothing but grey's here....the isle of wight is totally red squirrel country, but do you think i can find one when i am there...er no!

[Leon]

http://www.redsquirrels.info/images2/UK_distribution_mapb.jpg

would be great if the full map was red.

http://www.redsquirrels.info/conservation.html

[Heather]

i applaud you Charlie, and i wish there were more people like you in this world :)