Sunday Hike in the Woods Screech Owl

What an awesome day to go for a hike and look for some signs of Spring.It was a pretty cold morning  (22 deg) but it was sunny and the temps warmed up as the sun climbed  higher. Best of all there was no wind .
Here are some highlights:

Chipmunks all over the place. These fast little guys were scurrying everywhere.

Here was a delightful FIND! Gray morph Eastern Screech Owl. Sleeping away seemingly unaware of my presence but we know thats not true.It is totally amazing how they can hide in plain sight  and are masters of disguise.Look how he blends in with the texture of the tree bark.
Here in this more "zoomed in image" You can see he has a wary eye on my whereabouts.

 A couple of young doe spooked by my presence.

And this one here is being spooked by a pair of Canadian Geese making there way up the creek bank onto land.

Uh oh! We have a beaver in the area .This is no small tree folks! Look at that craftmanship! There is a stump  and tons of wood chips to the left which must of been his last work of art.

I will have to do some research on this guy.Is it a red squirrel? It was smaller than the typical gray squirrel and almost the same color as a chipmunk.I don't recall ever seeing one . I do remember seeing black squirrels at  Whirlpool State Park in Niagara Falls but never a " red tinged" one, and what is she doing licking the tree? Sweet Sap?