We locked eyes, the squirrel and I.

He sat on a fir tree branch at about eye level. A chickadee house hung about six inches away on the same limb.

I walked toward the squirrel.

He didn’t flinch. He followed with keen interest my right hand, where I dangled a peanut by its stringy fiber.

Would he let me come give the nut directly to him?

He arose and moved toward the tree’s slender trunk. Then he scrambled onto the one branch that thrust outward between his original perch and me.

I extended my hand. He reached forward and set his teeth into the nut halfway down its length. Our transaction was complete.

That tree was a hotspot today. Later I saw a chickadee fly into the bird house. I wasn’t close enough to tell if it was carrying nest building materials.

Also saw a goldfinch at the nearby thistle feeder.