{"id":132250,"date":"2024-08-12T03:32:09","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T08:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=132250"},"modified":"2024-08-12T04:45:47","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T09:45:47","slug":"female-eastern-gray-squirrel-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/08\/12\/female-eastern-gray-squirrel-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Eastern Gray Squirrel Photos Plus A Video Clip"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I am sharing two photos and a short video clip of a female Eastern Gray Squirrel as she gathered leaves for her drey at Mount Magazine State Park<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Eastern Gray Squirrel gathering leaves \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/125, ISO 1600, +0.3 EV, Canon 100-400mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The rustling of the leaves drew both Steve Creek’s and my attention to the squirrel, and we hurried to get our cameras. We didn’t disturb the female squirrel at all; she continued gathering leaves as we set up to photograph her.<\/p>\n

The light wasn’t optimal due to clouds and the heavy tree canopy, but we made the best of what we had.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Eastern Gray Squirrel gathering leaves for a nest \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/125, ISO 1600, +0.3 EV, Canon 100-400mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, you might be wondering what a “drey” is. Simply put, it is a nest for tree and flying squirrels.<\/p>\n

Dreys are usually built from twigs, dry leaves, and grass and are typically assembled in the forks of a tall tree. They are sometimes referred to as “drey nests” to distinguish them from squirrel “cavity nests.”<\/p>\n

Squirrel dreys are often mistaken for bird’s nests, especially larger bird like hawks and owls. While squirrel dreys can be mistaken for bird nests, there are some distinguishing features, such as the presence of leaves woven into the structure, which are more common in squirrel nests.<\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/div><\/div>\n

I was happy to take this short video of the female Eastern Gray Squirrel gathering leaves, even though the light wasn\u2019t great. The video was also a little shaky because I was handholding the camera and lens.<\/p>\n

One thing else I could or should have done?<\/p>\n

I could have backed off the zoom a bit. After years of using a fixed prime lens, I sometimes forget I can do that with a zoom lens!<\/p>\n

I cut myself some slack, though, and why wouldn\u2019t I? I\u2019m only a perfectly imperfect human, after all.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

See Steve’s post about the nest building Eastern Gray Squirrel here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Eastern Gray Squirrel photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, I am sharing two photos and a short video clip of a female Eastern Gray Squirrel as she gathered leaves for her drey at Mount Magazine State Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13950,2766,14055,14056,5362],"tags":[13965,14317,2767,4070,5370,6949,15527,6583,14289,1632,14288,4069,2768,3826,3827,14132,14133,2791],"class_list":["post-132250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-eastern-gray-squirrels","category-logan-county","category-mount-magazine-state-park","category-video","tag-arkansas","tag-campground","tag-eastern-gray-squirrel","tag-female","tag-forest","tag-gathering","tag-hardwood-forest","tag-leaves","tag-logan-county","tag-mammals","tag-mount-magazine-state-park","tag-mountains","tag-sciurus-carolinensis","tag-squirrel","tag-squirrels","tag-tree-squirrel","tag-tree-squirrels","tag-video"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/eastern-gray-squirrel-female-mt-magazine-mia-mcpherson-9472.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-yp4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":160259,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/10\/14\/eastern-gray-squirrel-gathering-nuts\/","url_meta":{"origin":132250,"position":0},"title":"Eastern Gray Squirrel Gathering Nuts","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I photographed this Eastern Gray Squirrel mid-morning while they were gathering nuts near Reeves Slough at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Eastern Gray Squirrels"","block_context":{"text":"Eastern Gray Squirrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/eastern-gray-squirrels\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eastern Gray Squirrel gathering nuts at Sequoyah NWR, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/eastern-gray-squirrel-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-9195.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/eastern-gray-squirrel-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-9195.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/eastern-gray-squirrel-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-9195.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/eastern-gray-squirrel-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-9195.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17210,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/11\/25\/being-squirrely\/","url_meta":{"origin":132250,"position":1},"title":"Being Squirrely – Eastern Gray Squirrel Photo","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Time got away from me today and I am feeling a little squirrely tonight so I thought what better to post than an Eastern Gray Squirrel?","rel":"","context":"In "Eastern Gray Squirrels"","block_context":{"text":"Eastern Gray Squirrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/eastern-gray-squirrels\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eastern Gray Squirrel, Sawgrass Lake Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/eastern-gray-squirrel-mia-mcpherson-8982.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/eastern-gray-squirrel-mia-mcpherson-8982.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/eastern-gray-squirrel-mia-mcpherson-8982.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":78097,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/21\/national-squirrel-appreciation-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":132250,"position":2},"title":"National Squirrel Appreciation Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"January 21st is National Squirrel Appreciation Day and it recognizes these creatures that some people consider pests while others find them fascinating.","rel":"","context":"In "American Red Squirrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Red Squirrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/american-red-squirrels\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wasatch Mountains Rock Squirrel, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5946.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5946.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5946.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5946.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":139092,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/30\/snowy-fox-squirrel-images-from-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":132250,"position":3},"title":"Snowy Fox Squirrel Images From Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"During the snowstorm earlier this month here in Arkansas, I didn't just photograph birds in the snow, I also took a few photos of Fox Squirrels in the snow too.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fox Squirrel running in snow, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/fox-squirrel-snowy-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-8703.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/fox-squirrel-snowy-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-8703.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/fox-squirrel-snowy-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-8703.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/fox-squirrel-snowy-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-8703.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":131743,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/08\/03\/fox-squirrel-eating-acorns\/","url_meta":{"origin":132250,"position":4},"title":"Fox Squirrel Eating Acorns","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Because of cloudy then scorching hot weather, I didn't get out to photograph yesterday morning. But the day before, I focused on a Fox Squirrel eating acorns.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Fox Squirrel in an oak tree eating acorns, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/fox-squirrel-eating-acorns-mia-mcpherson-8631.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/fox-squirrel-eating-acorns-mia-mcpherson-8631.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/fox-squirrel-eating-acorns-mia-mcpherson-8631.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/fox-squirrel-eating-acorns-mia-mcpherson-8631.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":135998,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/10\/27\/young-fox-squirrel-photo-and-video\/","url_meta":{"origin":132250,"position":5},"title":"Young Fox Squirrel Photo And Video","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was outside yesterday, I watched and photographed a young Fox Squirrel slowly climb down from an oak tree and run across a thick layer of pine straw.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Fox Squirrel running to a birdbath, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/fox-squirrel-young-running-mia-mcpherson-2870.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/fox-squirrel-young-running-mia-mcpherson-2870.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/fox-squirrel-young-running-mia-mcpherson-2870.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/fox-squirrel-young-running-mia-mcpherson-2870.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}