Sheds, signs, waste containers,bridge railings – any flat, really accessible man-made surfaces in or around natural areas – excellent observation zones. At least, that’s been my experience.
It probably came across it in someone’s yard. People who love squirrels often buy cobs of dried corn to put out for them.
There’s a truism that there are two types of people in the world: squirrel lovers who buy food especially for them, and squirrel haters who go to great lengths to keep them away from the bird feeders. But there are also people who don’t care about squirrels one way or another.
And then there are folks like you … who take the Cutest Squirrel Photo Ever!
That’s true. The 2"x6" railing outside our back door is a very productive location. The hood of my truck also.
A couple of days ago I was sitting on my front porch with Merlin pulled up and a blue jay flew to a tree near me and started calling like a red-tailed hawk. It fooled Merlin. I have seen/heard a blue jay in my neighborhood mimic a Cooper’s hawk before, but this is the first time I have heard one mimic a red-tailed hawk. Interestingly, we have had Cooper’s hawks in our neighborhood for years, but this spring we have a pair of red-tailed hawks nesting in the neighborhood for the first time in my knowledge.
I liked seeing an Allen’s hummingbird do the J-shaped dive! 
Saw two Tree Swallows? engage in a death spiral and then fought brutally in the water right in front of me and my buddy. We both almost froze in the moment but were able to get a few photos, last one being from his perspective. One of them almost didn’t survive. Here is the observation.
Extending the “week” a bit of the original post, I saw a rather violent struggle between two salamanders at a site in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee, USA) on 24 April 2026 (observation). Expert herpetologists on the trip said these were Imitator Salamanders (Desmognathus imitator), I believe. This was thought to be a territorial struggle and not an attempt at cannibalism.
Amplexus
For the first time, I witnessed a massive migration of about 1,000 bufo bufo moving everywhere. I had to be extremely careful where I stepped! It was the first warm day, around +20°C, and they were mostly males vocalizing non-stop. Their calling reminds me of the sounds made by tadorna ferruginea, but much softer
observation
The chorus of Spring peepers in New England at this time of year is a delight,
(although they make it hard to sleep with the windows open)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/357391248
When the Cliff Swallows start gathering at patches of mud to collect material to build new nests or repair old ones, you know it’s spring. Some mating attempts seem to happen at these gathering spots also.
wow! like it
I was witness to some fun behavior in the last couple of days - both courtesy of some Greater Roadrunners. In the first photo, a juvenile is following a parent around, waiting to be fed. The adult finally caught an insect and fed it to the chick.
In the second, I spotted a Roadrunner with what appears to be a frog dangling from its beak. As I was photographing it, a juvenile bird came out of the undergrowth, begging to be fed. Unfortunately, I never witnessed the feeding behavior.
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i got a little peek of some jumping spider courtship display today
the female is on the leaf, looking down at the male who is slowly making his way up the stem:
his dark front legs are held up, his mouthparts are spread open, his pedipalps are also held spread out. he’s making his way towards her with jerky motions from side to side.
unfortunately i didn’t continue watching. i was in a pretty uncomfortable squat and the female kept getting distracted by my presence - so i gave them some privacy
a couple more photos on the observation, i’m happy with the close-up of the male… and the clear shot of the female looking at me instead of him, lol
Pictures are still on the camera card, but yesterday’s field trip gave me a first-ever chance to witness a Western Painted Turtle laying her eggs! There was an unfinished scrape about two feet away from her chosen nest site; my hypothesis is that she had started digging there, but got spooked off, came back and started the new nest.
Needless to say, photos were taken from a respectful distance. 
Sooo cool! Please post/update with some pics when you get a chance.
I don’t have a recent picture, but this happened earlier this week. I love when I spot a tiny tree hopper or beetle on a plant stem and they rotate around the stem to “hide”, but I can still see almost their entire body sticking out on either side of the stem. If I go around the plant to one side, they rotate away. If I go back the other side, they’re surprised I switched sides, but still rotate away.
Here’s an old photo of a stink bug “hiding” from me.
Hah! I often find myself humming the nursery rhyme ‘Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush’ when this happens.