Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.
As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”
Not just bird-feeder-gangsters, Turfted Titmice will evidently go for the processed grains as well. And acorns. Remember that time I saw one scavenging a Winter Wren?
Yes, it’s a tiny watering hole.
Chickadees taking a sip, too.
FYI: One of my photographs of an unknown oak gall wasp species was used for this interesting article on iNaturalist by Amy Harmon of the NY Times.
December 11 update: unfortunately, they mis-credited it ON THE FRONT PAGE of the paper edition.
Great photos!
Love the Tufted Titmouse. Question in our house – where does the name with “mouse” come from?
Congratulations on your photo credit!
According to Choate’s Dictionary of American Bird Names, it’s from the Anglo-Saxon mase, a name for small birds. The plural, he says, should be be titmouses, but the confusion with “mouse” leads to titmice. If Titmouses had houses…. The tit is from the Icelandic tittr, anything small.
Backyard and Beyond 
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