When the seed bowl is empty, he locates and stalks us through the windows, and insistently chirps at us until one of us refills it. He supervises us from the holly tree to be certain we’re doing it properly.

He used to come get us to chase away the wood pigeons, who would sit in the seed dish and not allow the other birds to come near, until my partner “pigeon-proofed” the dish with a McGyver-style cage.

It’s rare he ever holds still long enough for a photo. These are all pulled from video.

#8-9 Miss Fiona. Miss Fiona is a story of human conflict, and its impact on local wildlife. We had a former neighbor, with some mental health issues, who was shooting any small animal that wandered into our shared yards. I didn’t know this until I made an off-handed comment that I never saw any squirrels, about a year after we moved in. Or any wildlife, really, other than songbirds and chipmunks. Then my partner filled me in on the “why”. I won’t go into the details, but not long after, the house was sold and the neighbor moved away. But the wildlife still avoided our yard. Until Miss Fiona. She woukd creep along the back fence rail, look around, then bolt.

She eventually made it to our walk out deck, and found that all my plant pots made convenient storage for her acorns. One day, I caught her digging, and stepped outside to scold her. Terrified, she ran to the holly tree. But she must have been hungry, because then she doubled around and went back to the planter. I said in a scolding voice, “No. Don’t dig up my plants”. She tucked her tail and slunk away like a scolded dog, with hurt feelings. She turned back one more time, and I said, “No. I mean it.”

But by that point, I didn’t. I left empty planters full of dirt for her to store her nuts in. And sometimes if she comes by, I’ll say “Is that Miss Fiona?” and she’ll come to the door for a strawberry or a macadamia. She’s very polite, and waits patiently.

She disappears for long stretches - I haven’t seen her in a few months, but my partner sees her out on the back rail, going about her day.

I have a theory that squirrels don’t merely store acorns, they plant to ensure a future supply of trees and nuts.

It took a few years after the neighbor moved away, but the wildlife that roams our neighborhood freely, has come back to our yard, including deer, squirrels, possum, squirrels, and flying squirrels.