F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 250.

Tufted Titmouse 

A husband and a wife purchased an old home in Northern New York State from two elderly sisters. Winter was fast approaching and the years first snow came early and they were concerned about the house’s lack of insulation.

“If they could live here all those years, so can we!” a husband confidently declared.

One November night the temperature plunged to below zero, and they woke up to find interior walls covered with frost.

A husband called the sisters to ask how they had kept the house warm.

After a rather brief conversation, he hung up.

“For the past 30 years,” he muttered,

“they’ve gone to Florida for the winter.”

Interesting Fact: Titmice build cup-shaped nests inside the nest cavity using damp leaves, moss and grasses, and bark strips. They line this cup with soft materials such as hair, fur, wool, and cotton, sometimes plucking hairs directly from living mammals. Naturalists examining old nests have identified raccoon, opossum, dog, fox squirrel, red squirrel, rabbit, horse, cow, cat, mouse, woodchuck, and even human hair in titmouse nests. Nest construction takes 6 to 11 days. (  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tufted_Titmouse/lifehistory )