Hello everyone! I hope you are doing wonderfully.
I’m Robin, and I like to take photos of the animals I see around Worcester. In particular, I like photographing the squirrels I see in Elm Park.
I’ve got some logistics for this week. I promise they are one-time-only.
If you’re reading this, I have you on file as signed up to receive some photos via this mailing list every two weeks (if there’s a lot going on in squirrel land, I’ll send up to once a week). If this is a mistake, or if you ever want to unsubscribe, just fill out this form. If you have friends who want in, give them my email or send them the signup form and I’ll get them on the list.
If at any point you want higher-quality PNGs or RAW files, just shoot me an email. Same story if you have any suggestions or requests. If you want prints or posters of any, let me know and I’ll try to get you one (or, worst case, I’ll send you the highest quality file I have).
That’s the special first-week logistics. Now on to photos :)
This week, I’m sending the best photos I have from the last few months, so some of you may have seen some of these before.
For a few months now, I’ve been periodically greeting a squirrel I refer to as Notch because of the notch in the back of her right ear. I also identify her by the vibrant orange patches by her wrists.
(I have this photo of her as a 16x20 poster and I really like it. It’s probably my favorite photo I have.)
Notch is so polite whenever I see her. She almost always comes over to investigate, or maybe to say hi. I assume she probably does that with every human to see if they have food, but it still feels special every time.
Below is a big batch from the first day I saw her, that still has some of my favorite shots:
I walked up to the tree to get close enough for this one. (She was pretty low on the tree and I figured she could head further up if she wanted.) She didn’t walk as close to me on her own back then. Maybe she has gotten used to seeing me.
These next few are from the next day that I saw her.
She eventually picked up and began eating what looked like a delightful tuft of fancy grass. I like that you can see her teeth here.
She eventually dropped the snack on my camera bag after moving over to the tree above my stuff. I tried to give her space to get it back if she wanted but I think she was too intimidated by the bag.
This is her shocked face while trying to figure out if she wanted to come pick it up:
I’ve got some more Notch photos, but I think I’ll leave it more or less here for this week because they’re the best Notch shots.
Okay one more:
There is a baby squirrel! That we think is Notch’s child!! In some shots from about a month ago, Notch looks like she’s been nursing.
I moved earlier this summer, and my mom was visiting me to help. I took her to the park to introduce her to Notch. While we were there, we saw a couple trying to get an overenthusiastic little friend to leave them alone. They were leaving peanuts for a very small creature, and trying to distract it from trying to climb them long enough to get away. Notch was watching from a distance. Three cheers for that couple, they were so careful and gentle working with this little buddy.
The only thing that actually worked was walking through the gaggle of geese that hangs out in the park. The child (which my mom and I call Nacho, at her suggestion) got distracted by the geese and stopped following the humans to get in a staring contest with a nearby duck.
I made the mistake of sitting down to take photos. Nacho didn’t stand still long enough for me to get a super clear one, but I have a few less-clear ones :)
A few seconds of wandering later, my mistake became clear:
I got up just before they reached me. They never got to climb me, but they did get close. I am glad I got to meet them :)
I do not know which of these are the same squirrel and which are different. For most of these I have not picked names. If you have suggestions for names or any thoughts on how to recognize these buddies, let me know!!
This is the goofiest one I’ve seen, taken on the WPI campus:
This is the first photo I took with my zoom lens. I’ve since superceded it but it was cool at the time:
Some jumping and weird poses (both are same squirrel):
The next image is of a squirrel I saw the same day I met Nacho. I call this one Round Friend. They are so large and round and happy eating a peanut, and it fills me with joy :) As a PSA, based on some quick googling I did after seeing this, it seems peanuts are not super nutritional for squirrels, so if you’re gonna regularly feed them, try to find another snack for them like (unsalted) almonds. I think Round Friend picked up the peanuts that the couple tried to distract Nacho with.
The sensor was dirty for these three, but I find it cute anyway. The blue in the background is one of the Worcester Regional Transit Authority buses. Do you think the squirrels like public transit?
A squirrel mid-blink. I think they look so zen:
I met this young one on a walk yesterday! I’m not sure if this is Nacho grown up a little, or if this is a separate young one. For those who know Haley, she suggested the wonderful name Pumpkin if this is a different squirrel.
A few more miscellaneous photos:
(If you look closely in this one you can see a leaf on their nose.)
(This one was on WPI campus, near the physics building.) 
Some bunnies from nearby!!
On WPI campus:
This is the goofiest bunny photo one I have.
Near Elm Park:
That’s all the animal photos I’ve got for this week.
Now you’re caught up on the creatures I’ve seen most around Elm Park and nearby in Worcester :)
If you have any requests or suggestions for next time, or your own photos you would like to include, just shoot me an email!
I’m thinking about including some photos of my dog next time. I’ve also got some train photos. Let me know if you have strong feelings either way on the inclusion of non-creature photos in an extra little section at the end, like bunnies were this week.
I hope these photos bring some joy into your days like they have brought joy into mine :)
Thanks for tuning in and for joining me. I hope to see you next time!
Sincerely,
Robin