Still Life with Robin: Best Squirrels of 2023

Photo by Magnus Johansson via Wikimedia Commons

by Peggy Robin

 

I hope you did not miss Squirrel Week, 2023, an annual event in "John Kelly's Washington," which ran every day last week in The Washington Post, starting on April 8. 

 

This year, as in all past years, each day's column has brought fresh tales of adventure featuring our furry, scampering little rodent friends, as well as insight into their behavior, not to mention delight in their antics. if you missed any day of Squirrel Week, you can catch up here:

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/08/squirrel-eruption/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/08/orphaned-baby-squirrels/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/10/squirrels-climate-change/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/11/giant-flying-squirrels/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/12/oklahoma-university-squirrel/

 

To my mind, the crowning glory of Squirrel Week is never any particular day's column -- it's the link found in the final day's column that when clicked, takes you to the winners of the 2023 squirrel photography contest -- but here's your direct link:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/12/squirrel-photography-contest/ 

 

For 2023, John Kelly selected the top 34 out of of the hundreds of entries received and judged. Lest you think I"m just lazily and uncritically passing along a recommendation to view his favorites, let me assert that I bring my own discerning and well-trained, squirrel-judging eye to the process. (And for my credentials, I take credit for assisting in the testing of a fair number of the allegedly squirrel-proof birdfeeders reviewed in Bill Adler's seminal work, "Outwitting Squirrels: 101 Cunning Stratagems to Reduce Dramatically the Egregious Misappropriation of Seed from Your Birdfeeder by Squirrels" - in print since 1988 and now in its third edition, which, for a time, was #1 on Amazon's bestseller list for home and garden books.)

 

So, without further self-puffery, here are my own top five Squirrel Photos of the Year:

 

Start here and scroll down until you see the photos with the captions below:

 

#1 "Needs more coffee" - yawning squirrel in Franklin Square Park.

#2 An audacious squirrel comes within stalking distance of a red-tailed hawk.

#3 An eastern gray squirrel munches on nectar-rich mahonia blossoms.

#4 Seeing eye to eye - chipmunk at eye-level with a garden statue of a squirrel.

#5 A squirrel at the National Mall is parallel to the Washington Monument.

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Still Life with Robin is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on weekends....usually on Saturday but this weekend, on Sunday.