Washing up

  

Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) washing up after eating a nut.  Photographed in Burlington, Vermont, on 7 October 2024.

At the base of the mountains

We were in meetings for most of the day, but I snuck in a few pictures.  Here are three of my favorites from today:

 

Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli)

 

Least Chipmunk (Tamias minimus)

 

Shadow of a Red Admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta) on an aspen trunk (with sapsucker holes)

The "striped collector"

 

Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) eating an acorn in Alstead, New Hampshire, on 27 September 2015.

 

Although we knew "striatus" means striped, we weren't sure about "Tamias."  After doing some research, it sounds like Tamias means "collector" or "keeper" — an appropriate name for an animal that stores nuts and seeds underground for the winter. 

P.S.  I posted a photo of a Sonoma Chipmunk (at Point Reyes) on 27 May 2012.