However, there are some positives. There are populations on the Isle of Wight, where Greys are absent and another population in Poole Harbour Dorset.  The Keilder Forest is good for them and  are they are also doing well in the Lake District.  One other small colony is in a small conifer woodland in Formby, Lankashire and this is where I visited on the 30th December.

This reserve, run by the National Trust was great for getting really good views and photograph opportunities. It was also unusual in that housing development had “crept” right to the front entrance, one second you were in a typical English High Street and then the next, right there in a nature reserve. I negotiated the pay to enter booth and chatted to the guy collecting the money and he told me that the best place to see the squirrels was to  follow the “Squirrel Walk”.  I still, at that point, had no idea of how common they were here and I expected it to be difficult to get even a glimpse, but I was very wrong.  It was busy and even finding a parking space was hard.  There were dogs and their owners as well as mums pushing pushchairs and toddlers on reigns. There was even an Ice Cream Van and a ponsie toilet as big as my house but somewhat posher. It wasn’t looking good as far as wildlife was concerned. I walked the noisy track and almost immediately, there was a Red Squirrel. Not realising that if I walked another 50 yards I would see more and out in the open, I stood for ages trying to get a shot of this elusive animal but at least I had seen one! Walking on, there were three or four just feeding on the ground near to the path and others chasing around in the leaf litter. It was amazing. It turns out that this reserve at Formby is doing a great job and the Squirrels have increased dramatically over the last 2 or 3 years due apparently to one or two individuals recovering from the ‘pox”, and developing an immunity and passing  this on  to their progeny which is great news for the species in the UK.