by John Baldwin
Hope all is well with you all now that things are looking brighter on the pandemic front and everyone is striving to do the right thing by getting inoculated. Well done, it’s starting to work, but we can’t relax yet!
The other day, I spent a bit of time just sitting on a garden bench by our waterfall feature, and got some pictures of the birds that you are less likely to see in and around the water.
As you can see by the picture, they are not the ones you would expect to see there partaking of a quick dip, but I suppose the very hot weather that day was enough incentive for them to take the chance.
In a very short period of time I saw a Chickadee, which afterwards landed on a tree a couple of feet from me to untangle his feathers and get dried‑off! He was joined in the water by others, such as a female House Finch (with which it came head‑to‑head with in a challenge for a good, not too deep, bathing spot), a Tree Sparrow, and even a Bluebird.
Of course the real lover of water, a Robin, had already taken its regular “dip” and gone to dry‑off again. You may have seen other ones in an odd puddle near you doing the same thing. Quite the treat to be enjoyed.
Our bird drinking bath at the front of the house adjacent to some of our feeders has been visited by very thirsty squirrels and also a Grackle, which didn’t bathe, but was flying to and from the feeders with food in its beak which it softened by swishing it in the water before swallowing, ‑ very ingenious!
Stay safe and well,
Cheers,
John.
