Squirrels and Birds

The squirrels in our northern Virginia neighborhood are quite skiddish. We are reminded of that every time we walk through the park for a morning walk. They don’t want to be seen by anyone. When we lived on Capitol Hill the squirrels were extremely friendly - especially on the national mall. We took a drive yesterday and parked by the sculpture garden. We walked around the mall starting at the Smithsonian castle, down by the Capitol, then towards the Washington monument and back up. Along the way I was hoping to get some photos with a “minimalist” theme but was not having much luck. Then I said to my husband wouldn’t it be nice if the albino squirrel showed up. And wouldn’t you know there he was - where he usually hangs out near the national gallery of art museum. We happened to bring some rice with us and started to sprinkle it around. He was curious, along with the other squirrels, but not very interested. So we watched him for a bit. These are the times I wish i had a telephoto lens. There was another squirrel on the garbage can in the sculpture garden - allowing a close up portrait. Then we walked a bit more and found some birds by the American history museum and threw some rice on the sidewalk. They were clamoring over the tiny morsels. Today in the neighborhood park we sprinkled a bit of rice along the trails. When we returned to the first place it looked like everything was picked up, although we didn’t see any feathered friends there. I always enjoy watching the animals - furry or feathered. It doesn’t matter.