One of the best areas to see Red Squirrels on Brownsea is the bank behind the church. This area is on the National Trust side of the island and it can be seen from the Dorset Wildlife Trust gazebo. It is an area I keep an eye on when I'm on meet and greet duties at the gazebo, to see if there are any Red Squirrels active in the area. If so, I'm often pointing them out to our visitors. Part of the reason why the Red Squirrels are so active in this area, is visiting photographers often put out nuts on fallen trees at the top of the bank to encourage the Red Squirrels to appear for their photos. The DWT team do not approve of this activity, but as the photographers are not on the DWT reserve, then this isn't anything do to ask them to stop.
On this occasion, the photographer with the bag of nuts was standing by the main track, so it was possible to wander over to take a few photographs on this tree stump.
After three weeks off Brownsea, due to ORCA surveys to Santander and the Scillies, followed by the Pale-legged Warbler twitch, it was good to see the Red Squirrels again.
