Dear Readers, no this isn’t some abstract work of art focussed around twigs, but there is a story attached to it, so let me start at the beginning. Yesterday I was peering out of the window when I noticed a pair of squirrels chasing one another round and round the whitebeam. I am pretty sure that at one point they stopped to have one of those ‘when a daddy squirrel loves a mummy squirrel very much’ moments. Then it was off for another chase.
Grey squirrels only breed twice a year, in late February/March, and then again in June/July. The gestation period is about six weeks. An average litter is about three, but a female can have up to nine youngsters, which she rears alone for about a month, before they leave the drey. And herein lays the problem. The female usually rears her young in the whitebeam- you might remember these short films of two youngsters that I took during the first lockdown in 2020.
This year, however, there’s a pair of magpies nesting right where the drey used to be (in fact, I think the birds might have used the drey as a starting point before adding twigs of their own). One of the squirrels actually entered what is now the nest from below, and was soundly chased off by a very cross magpie, who was sitting in the nest (though whether she is actually incubating eggs I cannot tell).

Squirrel heading for the drey/nest
I know some people detest grey squirrels but, they are an invasive species now established. I like to go and watch ours in a local wood. They are timid and certainly nothing like the ones in central London that will tap you on the shoulder and run up your legs.
Their agility is amazing as well as their speed. They run across the tree canopy as easily as if they were at ground level. Thanks Bugwoman, I hope the domestic magpie/ squirrel drama resolves itself.
I think that they are astonishing animals, extremely adaptable and full of character. They can survive in areas where our native red squirrels wouldn’t stand a chance. And I wonder how well red squirrels would have done in the degraded habitats that are all too often the norm these days. I think that red squirrels should definitely be given protection where they still live, but getting rid of the greys in places like London would just mean no squirrels I think.