The first time…
As you can tell Squirrel Jr. still is trying to out-smart the feeder which was made to buster squirrels. He just doesn’t get it!
Two days ago, I saw Mr. W back in the early evening with mud all over him; he looked like he just had a big battle. He didn’t go to the nest, but went up to the top of his nest tree. He stood up there for a few minutes, shook off the mud, then laid on the tree trunk to scratch off the mud. He did repeatedly, until he got himself cleaned.
The same morning, he did a major cleanup carrying out a bunch of junk from the nest to wherever. This probably was why he went to the lake had a mud bath and did what he did. He could have done a few other times, but it’s my first time seeing it… The photo of what he got from the nest looked pretty gross, so I’m not posting it.
They both have been feeding babies with nuts, seeds, berries, and worms through out the day, a well balanced diet.
I have seen Mr. W bringing bigger worms more often then Mrs. W.
Mr. W has multiple duties, he cleans up the nest a few times a week, he shares the responsibility of guarding their nest day and night and feeding the babies. He looks like a happy, proud father. 🙂
Whenever they both arrive at the nest, Mr. W always steps on the left side of the nest and lets Mrs. W feed the babies first. One time, he was out their waiting as long as 4, 5 minutes. We put out the bird feeder before it gets dark so they can enjoy when other birds are gone, by then they are pretty exhausted.
Then this weekend, Baby W showed up!
Below is the first picture I took of the baby and Mr. W. As always, he looks right, left, up, and down a couple of times before she gets in the nest.
I think this one is the big brother:
All photos were taken through a window, please excuse the low quality.
Incubation is by both male and female (with male incubating at night and part of day); it takes 12-14 days. Both parents feed nestlings. Young leave nest about 30 days after hatching, may associate with parents for some time thereafter. 1-2 broods per year, rarely 3.
Here is the previous post I did about how Mr and Mrs W protect the little babies (A month later…):
The World Is A Book... 
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