04/06/2026
Report for May 2026.
I’ll start with the bad news. Whilst this could have been revealed a few weeks ago, I didn’t want to follow bad news with potentially more bad news.
On 11th April, Corinne contacted me about a squirrel struggling to eat and appearing weak when moving about. From the photographs we could see that both eyes were clear, so ruled out squirrrelpox (which was some relief with such low squirrel numbers). I identified the squirrel as ‘Maverick’, one of two youngsters from ‘Hilary’s summer 2025 litter. I had seen him on a couple of days during my late March/early April visit and noted the two missing patches of fur on his right shoulder. Whilst I saw him on the little seat on the lawn (taking nuts to eat in the bush behind) and later in the visit eating nuts on ‘Nutkin’s tree (but only dashed out of the conservatory to grab a shot), I did not see him running about, so can’t comment as to how healthy he appeared.
The good thing about the internet and sharing information on Facebook, I picked up from one of Eileen’s videos that ‘Maverick’ had been at Milkingstead on 7th April (this is a little over a mile from Forest How). According to Eileen, he had been at Milkingstead for some time, and her brother thought that he might have been attacked by a bird, shortly after Christmas, but was slowly recovering.
There were no further sightings of ‘Maverick’ either at Forest How, or Milkingstead.
On 17th April, Corinne reported that whilst ‘Hilary’ was eating well, the bacterial infection, from which she had suffered for two years, was making her movement and climbing difficult. The armpits and teat areas were particularly badly affected, not helped by feeding milk to her kittens. Corinne also spotted a kitten on the low terrace wall, with ‘Hilary’ able to watch on from the nearby yew arch.
By 20th April, ‘Hilary’ had not been seen for two days and Corinne had been putting down ‘easy to eat’ food for the kitten. Without a late winter visit, I’m guessing that the kitten was born at the start of March, so could possibly be on solid food. The kitten was not seen after 19th April.
Corinne had seen a buzzard flying round and settling in the top of a conifer. With the squirrels compromised in terms of their mobility, the chances of predation would have increased significantly, and squirrels have to be wary of several predators. Sadly, we have concluded that ‘Maverick’, ‘Hilary’ and her kittens (she probably had more than one) were all lost.
During my previous visit, I had noted that ‘Hilary’s daughter ‘Miranda’, from her early 2025 litter was lactating. So, she also had kittens. She was not seen regularly during my March/April visit, and not at all towards the end of my visit. I had hoped that her kittens, probably born a little later than those of ‘Hilary’, would have made an appearance but this had not happened by the time of my May visit. Whether they had also been lost, or relocated, was still to be determined when I arrived at Forest How.
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Friday 22nd May.
I arrived at 13:20, after a long journey. Warm and dry, the forecast was for a heatwave over the weekend and into the start of the next week; not ideal for squirrel spotting. Normally, I would have headed straight to the wood, but accepted Corinne’s offer of a coffee.
Corinne had only seen two squirrels in recent weeks, one coming up from Foresthow Wood on a regular basis, and, more recently, one coming down from the fellside; Corinne believed that the second squirrel was ‘Lando’.
By 13:30, I had my first squirrel sighting, when Corinne saw the squirrel arrive on the terrace bench. On the second visit, a slight tear in the left ear confirmed that we were looking at ‘Maria’, the other kitten from ‘Hilary’s summer 2025 litter. She made several visits to the terrace bench and the nearest bird table.
There were two roe deer in the meadow and, at 14:15, as I entered the orchard, a female roe deer charged from the corner of the meadow and down into Foresthow Wood.
At 14:45, ‘Maria’ was in Foresthow Wood before heading towards the bridleway gate. At 14:50, she posed at the bridleway gate.
From 15:30 until 15:45, ‘Maria’ was in Foresthow Wood. The midges were bad, as usual for this time of the year. 15:55 again saw ‘Maria’ at the bridleway gate.
At 16:10, ‘Maria’ was back in Foresthow Wood before moving deeper into the wood.
At 18:00, two nuts were missing from the dish on the terrace table; a woodpecker was suspected.
I called ‘close’ of play at 18:40 and went upstairs.
From 19:15 until at least 20:00, a female roe deer was feeding in the garden. She heard me opening the window wider, but was far enough away to not be concerned.
The squirrel count stood at one.
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Saturday 23rd May.
The day dawned overcast, after overnight rain.
Out at 05:00, I had the food rounds completed by 05:15.
A nut check, at 05:50, saw nuts missing from the large hollow log and two missing from the kitchen window feeder. One nut was missing from the dish on the terrace table, with a second missing by 06:05. Monitoring is much easier when a set number of nuts is used at each location. I suspected mice, or voles, plus a woodpecker.
06:20 saw all nuts gone from Foresthow Wood and both from the wood side of the bridleway gate. 06:25 saw ‘Maria’ arrive at the bridleway gate.
07:40 saw the replacement nuts missing from Foresthow Wood. ‘Maria’ appeared at the bridleway gate, ran up the wall, along the lower fellside and arrived at ‘Nutkin’s tree by 07:50.
At 08:10 and 08:15, ‘Maria’ was on the terrace before returning to Foresthow Wood. At 08:30, she paid two more visits to the terrace.
I was away up the valley from 09:20 until 13:30, seeing two squirrels as I went and calling in at the Eskdale Art Show on my return. I was hoping for similar squirrel timing to Friday afternoon.
At 14:45, I discovered evidence that ‘Lando’ had probably visited ‘Nutkin’s tree and eaten a nut. As I had not been regularly checking, I could not pin down a more exact timing.
At 15:50, I carried out a nut check.
16:05 saw ‘Maria’ appear on ‘Nutkin’s tree. Nuts were still in place and she posed nicely. She then moved to the fallen tree in the corner of the garden, the bridleway gate, and moved into Foresthow Wood. I saw her there at 16:25, but decided to leave her in peace as she was reluctant to visit the food locations whilst I was there. I could not determine whether she had been resting in the Colorado spruce during the day, or had come down the fellside.
I called ‘close of play’ at 18:45.
The squirrel count stood at one.
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Sunday 24th May.
The day dawned overcast, but was forecast to improve.
Out at 05:15, the food rounds were completed by 05:25.
I carried out nut checks at 06:05, 06:50 and 07:05.
At 07:20, I was in Foreshow Wood when I heard a noise; it was the distinctive grunting noise of a male squirrel hunting after a female. I looked up, to see ‘Lando’ moving through the largest pine tree, through the adjacent pine tree and into one of the giant oak trees. He ran up and down the large branches, nose to the branches as he went. He disappeared at speed.
At 07:50, nuts went missing from the fallen tree. I wondered whether ‘Maria’ had visited or perhaps the bank vole.
At 08:05, ‘Lando’ paid the first of two visits to the terrace. Between visits, I put pieces of hazelnut on the bench arm; when he returned, ‘Lando’ found the nut pieces, turned around and munched his way through the pieces of nut, much to the delight of some of the guests who had not seen a red squirrel for many years.
I was away to my wood from 10:30 until 17:55. Whilst I didn’t see any squirrels, nuts went missing whilst I was busy working too far away to watch the food locations. There was, however, a brief sighting of a roe deer.
At 18:00, I put nuts in the Green Man, a location unlikely to be visited by the bank vole. The nuts were still in place at 19:00, but a female roe deer was disturbed in the orchard.
I looked out from my bedroom window at 20:00. The five nuts in the terrace table dish appeared to have become six. When I checked, in the morning, I found that one of the five nuts had been cracked open; ‘Maria’. I also found a nut fragment on ‘Nutkin’s tree; ‘Lando’.
The squirrel count stood at one, although it would have doubled had I spent the hour after 19:00 looking out from the bedroom window.
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Monday 25th May.
The day dawned bright and warm, forecast to become hot.
Outside at 05:05, I completed the food rounds by 05:15.
At 05:25, nuts were missing from ‘Nutkin’s tree (bank vole?) and, at 05:30, a mouse was seen leaving the kitchen window feeder at speed.
At 06:25, nuts were again missing from ‘Nutkin’s tree.
At 07:00, a hazelnut shell, on ‘Nutkin’s tree, indicated that ‘Maria’ had visited. [‘Nutkin’s tree was blown down in November 2021.] In addition, one nut was missing from each of, bridleway gate, fallen tree in the corner of the garden and what remains of the fellside stump.
Nut checks at 07:30 and 07:50, found nuts still in place at the Foresthow Wood locations.
09:30 saw nuts missing from the fallen tree, Green Man and bridleway gate, suggesting that ‘Maria’ was still active. By 09:45, nuts had gone from the peek-a-boo tree.
I was away from 09:45 until 13:20, walking up the valley and seeing a female roe deer. Along the track, I encountered local farmer Roger, who reported a visiting red squirrel but which had not been seen for the previous three days. Whether this had been a roving ‘Lando’, or another squirrel, could not be determined.
At 13:20, all nuts had gone from Foresthow Wood. On a hot day, with squirrels likely to stay in the relative cool of the wood, I would have been surprised had the nuts still been in place. I walked to the end of the boardwalk (not easy, as a tree which had progressively leaned had branches down to ground level). In the top of one of the slender pine trees, I could see a squirrel drey. It was in full sun and, had ‘Maria’ been using this drey it would have been too warm; I wondered whether she might have been away building a new drey and only returning occasionally to eat a couple of hazelnuts.
From 13:30 until 14:00, I was up on the fellside looking for squirrel dreys. Nothing was seen. Beyond the visible rhododendron line, bushes which had been chemically treated were now obviously dead. Looking brown and unattractive, no squirrel would now build a drey within the ‘forest’ which was being reduced by 90% by the new land owners. So be fair, there would have been no other viable option on Muncaster Fell, much of which had been covered by rhododendrons under which nothing else grows. My only fear is that, in the event of prolonged drought, in future years this would produce a large source of fuel in the event of a wildfire.
I carried out nut checks at 14:10, 15:25 and 16:30. 16:35 saw a bank vole on ‘Nutkin’s tree.
At 17:10, I carried out a nut check.
17:35 saw ‘Maria’ in Foresthow Wood. Two nuts were eaten.
I called ‘close of play’ at 18:40.
The squirrel count stood at one.
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Tuesday 26th May.
The day dawned bright and warm, becoming hot. As in previous days, midges were a problem.
Out at 05:15, I completed the food rounds by 05:30.
Nut check at 06:00.
At 06:30, ‘Maria’ was seen in Foresthow Wood. On checking, I found one nut missing from the bridleway gate which suggested that ‘Maria’ had arrived via the boundary wall. She approached the fallen tree, but decided that I was too close. She then moved through the trees towards the peek-a-boo tree, took a nut and ran deeper into the wood.
The 07:05 nut check revealed two missing from ‘Nutkin’s tree, one from the feeding stump and one from the terrace dish. Whether ‘Maria’ had passed through, unseen, or whether the woodpecker had been at work, I could not establish.
07:35 saw the replacement nuts missing from ‘Nutkin’s tree and the feeding stump.
At 10:00, I carried out a nut check before going up the valley for a walk, on a warm day, during which I found two opened hazelnuts in a wood. I returned at 15:30.
I carried out nut checks at 16:00 and 16:50. I was mostly in Foresthow Wood until 17:50, regularly moving to avoid the worst of the midges.
I carried out a final nut check at 18:50.
At 19:40, on looking out from my bedroom window, I saw a squirrel with a blonde tail tip running down the garden wall. The nut from the right side of the gate was taken down and buried, before the squirrel disappeared. Whilst I could not rule out a third squirrel, ‘Maria’ would have been the likely candidate, having a lighter tail tip than ‘Lando’.
I recorded the squirrel count as one.
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Wednesday 27th May.
The day dawned overcast and cooler. Midges were still bad.
I was out at 05:15, with rounds completed by 05:25.
A female roe deer was in the lower part of the garden at 05:15 and obviously heard me opening the conservatory door. I could see the deer watching me through two thicknesses of glass and moved to the edge of the terrace for a couple of photographs before the deer ran off towards Foresthow Wood, barking as she went.
At 06:00, a nut was missing from the fallen tree. I could hear a cuckoo calling from fairly close to the wood.
At 06:25, I carried out a nut check.
At 06:50, another nut was missing from the fallen tree and 06:55 saw nuts missing from ‘Nutkin’s tree.
07:05 saw nuts again missing from the fallen tree and 07:15 saw the replacement nuts missing from ‘Nutkin’s tree. There was still no evidence of an active squirrel.
07:50 saw the last pre-breakfast nut check.
At 08:30, whilst the guests were listening to an RAF fly-by, a sparrowhawk flew through the garden, scattering the small birds. First sighting of the visit, following multiple sightings during my previous visit.
Post-breakfast nut checks saw one nut missing from the Green Man at 08:35 and one missing from ‘Nutkin’s tree.
09:10 saw nuts missing from the Green Man and 09:25 saw nuts missing from ‘Nutkin’s tree and the feeding stump.
At 09:35, ‘Maria’ visited the Green Man, ate both nuts, then moved deep into the wood.
I was away from 10:30 until 14:30, visiting my wood. There were no wildlife sightings.
At 14:35, nuts were missing from ‘Nutkin’s tree.
From 14:40 until 15:05, I checked on ‘Nature Wood’ for the first time in at least a year. The paths were generally overgrown, but at least I knew where they were. There were no signs of squirrel activity.
From 15:10 until 15:40, I carried out another search of the fellside again but found no dreys.
At 15:45, I carried out a nut check before having a rest until 17:15.
At 19:00, I carried out my final nut check. ‘Maria’ was in Foresthow Wood; she had probably just arrived as nuts were only missing from the Green Man. I quickly checked the bridleway gate, to find nuts still in place; this suggested that she had spent the day in the wood.
It was possible that two late visits were paid to the terrace bench arm, as this would be the first location visited by a squirrel arriving from Foresthow Wood. This was not a location from which the occasional nut had gone missing in recent days, whereas I suspected that the woodpecker had taken nuts from the other locations and I had heard the sound of nuts being hammered.
The squirrel count stood at one.
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Thursday 28th May.
After a very windy end to the night, my final morning dawned overcast with occasional spots of rain.
Outside at 05:25, I had the food rounds completed by 05:35.
06:20 saw nuts missing from the fallen tree and, at 06:50, nuts went from ‘Nutkin’s tree.
At 07:00, ‘Maria’ arrived from deep in Foresthow Wood. She stopped on the approach to the fallen tree, clearly she thought that I was standing too close. She made her way towards the bridleway gate, arriving at the same time as the photographer; she immediately turned and disappeared.
At 07:05, ‘Maria’ was at the Green man, eating one nut and taking the second to eat further away. She then moved to another tree, considering the photographer to be too close. Before long, she was foraging on the ground, between this tree and the bridleway gate, but then disappeared by 07:30.
The pre-breakfast nut check, at 07:50, saw nuts missing from ‘Nutkin’s tree; I suspected the bank vole.
At 09:00, all nuts were gone from Foresthow Wood and, at 09:30, I spotted ‘Lando’ at the bridleway gate. He showed the same colouration as his daughter, but obviously lacked the torn ear.
I carried out my final nut checks at 09:50 and 10:30, before departing on my long journey home.
The squirrel count stood at two.
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Summary.
Sadly, my visit did not produce sightings other than ‘Lando’ and ‘Maria’. The mystery of ‘Miranda’ and her kittens must remain just that.
The lack of close-up photographs reflected the lack of friendly squirrels, but at least both posed!
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