Squirrels, Cardinals, and Loons! Oh my!

A couple of weeks ago we noticed that a Squirrel had built a nest in the eaves of our house. At that time we were seeing the babies poking out here and there, but not venturing far.

Well, they have done some growing these last couple of weeks and they are ready to explore the world. Mama Squirrel is not so sure about this idea though. We have seen her carrying babies back up to the nest from the ground on several occasions. Its a bit comical, but poor Mom, she must be a nervous wreck trying to keep them in that nest!!

This morning one of the babies was even scratching at our window (we live in the basement). It was cute, but I hurried and found the screen for our window!! I had been just propping it open when we wanted some air... no more of that!

This afternoon I was outside helping Dave with some things in the driveway and we noticed Mama Squirrel and a baby in the tree. It seemed the Mom was teaching the baby "the ropes". You know, how to jump from limb to limb and such. He was actually doing well! I pulled my cell phone out and snapped a quick photo of the baby. See him on the trunk of the tree?

Then all of the sudden Mama grabbed him and carried him away. Squirrels carry their young by the belly, which is interesting. I'm not sure how they can see where they're going with that fluff of a tail waving around in front of them! I watched her run up the tree and jump onto the neighbor's roof and over to the corner and into a hole in the peak of their roof. We thought she must have 2 nests or something... or maybe she moved them there because it would be more difficult for them to get out of there. But I was just now thinking, and I bet that was a different family of Squirrels. I think we may have a Squirrel nursery going on over here!

We saw a beautiful Cardinal in the tree as well. We have a bird feeder in the yard as well as a Squirrel feeder... but it seems the only birds who visit it are Pigeons and House Sparrows, so it was a nice treat to see Mr. Cardinal. I hope he comes back again soon.

I also wanted to share a link with you.

LIVE Loon Cam

This is the second year we have followed this cam. Be careful, its addicting!!

Its put on by Kare 11's Minnesota Bound. The man who runs the cam lives on the lake that the nesting platform is on, and he has a Daily Log where he posts about what is going on in the nest and behind the scenes. We have learned a lot about Loons from him.

There are 2 eggs in the nest as we speak. The were laid on May 10th and 12th. They should hatch in 3-4 weeks. Then we can watch the babies. But for now its interesting to watch how Mom and Dad care for the eggs.