Douglas Squirrel

The sun was shining today so I took a long walk in the park. It was lovely, a bit chilly but beautiful. I took both of my cameras but wasn't really worried about getting a good photo. It would have been nice to see some wildlife but the day was so beautiful I didn't think too much about it. 

When I passed Scudder Pond heading in, there were no ducks there so I just kept on going. Down at Derby Pond the usual suspect ducks were cadging for a handout but not really interesting. So I continued on over the bridge, past the big waterfall (lackluster photos of it), and meandered back up towards Scudder and home. 

Then I saw a tiny squirrel eating some of the seeds that somebody puts out for the birds along the path near the pond. As I got closer I realized it was a Douglas Squirrel. Happy me. These tiny fellows are our local squirrels. The larger, more aggressive Eastern Gray Squirrels have pretty much taken over. So Douglases are pretty rare and they keep themselves hidden most of the time. This little guy hung out on a branch long enough for me to take quite a few photos. He even let me get quite close. As I passed by Scudder again I saw some Wood Ducks and that completed a very good walk through the woods.