Nature

[number 6]

I always wanted to take some photos of the Red Squirrels, Courtenay. So, on this occasion, I bought some Pine nuts from an health shop in Poole & sprinkled some on the ground on Brownsea where I knew Red Squirrels came to feed. It took a few hours of patience, but it paid off! This little chap gradually crept closer & closer, until he was taking the food from my hand! Mine you, they'll eat almost anything. I usually take a pocket full of Peanuts (the ones you give to Birds!) if I want to encourage them to stay in one place. The Pine nuts were an expensive treat, though!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Bagged this little beauty whilst on Brownsea Island..a lovely Red Squirrel. He kept coming up to me for little titbits & gently taking it from my hand!

Beautiful, Number 6! The only place I've ever seen red squirrels is at Formby.

[Eddie Muir]

Great photo, Number 6.

[Wolfgang]

Actually there are quite a lot of red squirrels here in Mannheim. From time to time I saw one hopping on the roof of our backhouse, and almost every time when I do a short walk during my worktime break on our local cemetary, I see red squirrels there as well.

[Courtenay]

Ah yes, but in Victorian times some well-meaning people introduced American grey squirrels to Britain. The grey squirrels being much bigger and more aggressive, and also carrying a disease (squirrel pox) that doesn't harm them but is fatal to red squirrels, the greys have mostly wiped out the reds in most parts of Britain, except in the far north of England, Scotland and some islands. It's awful, but that is what tends to happen when we introduce new species to an ecosystem that hasn't evolved to cope with them (don't get me started on all the examples of that in Australia!!! ).

Red squirrels have been introduced to Tresco in the Isles of Scilly (I have been there, but didn't spot any) and there are also conservation programmes for them in the parts of Britain where they still occur naturally, so that's something. But it does make me sad that they're so rare in the UK and that there doesn't seem to be any way of increasing their range again unless the grey squirrels are removed or controlled, which seems almost impossible.

[Katharine]

Lovely photo of the squirrel.

I saw some on Brownsea Island - a great moment. The only other ones I've ever seen are in captivity - not ideal, but at least it was keeping the numbers up. Apparently we used to have red squirrels here in Suffolk back in the 1950s, so they've disappeared in just a couple of generations.

[number 6]

Thanks to all for the compliments regarding my photo. The photo is a bit blurred, but the original isn't! I'm having trouble finding a decent site to use so I can upload my photos onto the forums. Tiny pics seems to be unreliable & I can't get no joy out of imgur. I think the latter needs to be done via a desktop computer. I have to rely on my I-pad at the present time, so it does restrict me in a lot of ways!

[Julie2owlsdene]

Lovely picture, number 6. I'd love to visit Brownsea Island. We have toured around it by boat, but sadly cannot land as we have a dog. Sad really, as our dogs have always been on a lead in public places, and so the squirrels would be safe.

We have a lot of squirrels visit our garden from the wood behind us, but not the reds.

[number 6]

Brownsea island is a lovely, tranquil place to visit, Julie...out of school hols, that is! Yes, it's a pity you can't visit, really. The Red Squirrels can be seen anywhere on the island, but I prefer to get off the beaten track in amongst the mature pines, away from the noisy visitors. However, I've seen them at the reception area as you land on the island as well.

[Carlotta King]

I'm having trouble finding a decent site to use so I can upload my photos onto the forums. Tiny pics seems to be unreliable & I can't get no joy out of imgur. I think the latter needs to be done via a desktop computer. I have to rely on my I-pad at the present time, so it does restrict me in a lot of ways!

I know what you mean.
Tinypic drives me mad because its absolutely littered with ads and popups that slow it down and get in the way, and half the time it redirects itself to ad sites that tell me I've won stuff, etc, and that's without me clicking on anything - it just redirects of its own accord, its so annoying.

And as for the other sites, they all seem to want you to sign up for accounts with them, and I just really don't want to bother with that, I just want a site that I can use without signing up (like you can with Tinypic).
I'm sick of having to have accounts for everything.

Love your photo, he's a real cutie, I just love his big fluffy tail!

[Courtenay]

Brownsea island is a lovely, tranquil place to visit, Julie...out of school hols, that is! Yes, it's a pity you can't visit, really. The Red Squirrels can be seen anywhere on the island, but I prefer to get off the beaten track in amongst the mature pines, away from the noisy visitors. However, I've seen them at the reception area as you land on the island as well.

I recall there was a Brownsea Island learning centre or similar thing along one of the paths into the woods, where they have information on the natural environment and do educational activities for kids and so on — there were squirrel feeders set up outside the building and you could see the red squirrels quite close up. But I also saw quite a number of them up in the trees along the paths as I walked.

[Rob Houghton]

I find the easiest thing to do is post photos on facebook, make them private if you don't want them showing on there, then copy the address. I guess its not perfect...but then I don't put photos on here all that often so it works for me.

[number 6]

I recall there was a Brownsea Island learning centre or similar thing along one of the paths into the woods, where they have information on the natural environment and do educational activities for kids and so on — there were squirrel feeders set up outside the building and you could see the red squirrels quite close up. But I also saw quite a number of them up in the trees along the paths as I walked.

That's right, Courtenay, they do! I forgot about the learning centre. I suppose it's pot luck, really. The weather plays a key role as well. If it's too hot, then the Squirrels may be quite inactive for a while. Ive been to the island one day & seen plenty of them, then I've hardly seen any the next day...& the weather has been the same. Swings & roundabouts!

[Minerva]

Thanks to all for the compliments regarding my photo. The photo is a bit blurred, but the original isn't! I'm having trouble finding a decent site to use so I can upload my photos onto the forums. Tiny pics seems to be unreliable & I can't get no joy out of imgur. I think the latter needs to be done via a desktop computer. I have to rely on my I-pad at the present time, so it does restrict me in a lot of ways!

Yes, I too have tried Imgur, as it is a "free" site (!) Before Imgur, I used photobucket.com (this may be the same as the TINYPICS that you mention?), which offers a "professional" service. But you have to pay for it!! Quite good results, though.

Perhaps you should try Google's "Picasa3" site? "Picasa" comprises a large assortment of "correction" software, including (variable) sharpening & saturation tools. I've had very satisfactory results from Picasa, and unlike Photoshop, etc., it's free. You should be able to transfer the image via a USB to the I-Pad.

Hope this is some help??

[number 6]

Thank you, Minerva! I will try this option out. Hopefully, it'll work. If not, then I'll get my computer wizard Brother to do it for me!