Thursday 13 September 2012

Rare Red Squirrel Spotting!


I don't normally have much luck in spotting nature. To give you an example - the woodland around Berlin is full of wild boar, but did I ever see one? Not once! Claire came over to visit me and on a short drive out of the city, she sees one in a garden on the outskirts of town! And me - well of course I had my eye on the road, so no wild boar for me. I do exaggerate, as in the Lakes I have seen wild animals on many occasions and I don't just mean Keswick town centre on a Friday night.

deer spotted near Holme Fell

I did see the Lake District ospreys from the viewing platform in Dodd wood, but given the powerful telescopes available, it's a bit hard to miss them. Of course there are plenty of other creatures you can't help but notice....

Sheep in the Lakes, not really an uncommon sight

However on a drive over to the Lakes in August, a little red squirrel hopped right across the road in front of my car as I was nearing Kirkby Stephen. Good job the road was quiet, as this fellow was in no rush to get across. Anyway I felt quite lucky as red squirrels are a bit of a rarity. I logged my sighting on the Red Squirrels of Northern England website: http://www.rsne.org.uk/

As well as being beautiful creatures to spot in their natural habitat, red squirrels contribute to the biodiversity of Britain and in their own small way contribute to our fragile living ecosystem.

For more information the Natural England website is a great resource: http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/biodiversity/default.aspx

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