A Bevy of Bathing Birds

This morning as I sat in the living room eating my Granola and looking out the window, a flurry of activity erupted at the bird bath in the front yard. I got up, went to the window, tried to make out what all the commotion was. Good grief! Two flickers, seven starlings, and several robins -- all fighting for space in one bird bath! I grabbed my camera and tried to take some photos from inside the house. (I didn't want to scare them off opening the door.) But I was so astounded I could barely focus. The pics didn't turn out well because of the distance and lack of light but the one below will at least (hopefully) give you an idea of the scene ...

If you look closely (and especially if you have one of those devices that lets you enlarge
the image indefintely!) you'll see five starlings IN the birdbath, one on the ground, one robin waiting in line and another robin standing slightly back of the bath, watching. Two flickers had just left. 

Until today I don't remember seeing more than 2 or 3 small songbirds or a robin in the bath at once. So this was pretty extraordinary. There hadn't been any starlings around the yard for over a month so I suppose these young guys were on their way somewhere, saw the birdbath, and decided to fly in for a quick visit because it's been so dry lately.

Certainly both our birdbaths have been well-used, much more so than usual, over the past couple of weeks. So I'm refilling them every morning with the water we collect in a bucket as the shower water warms up. I kind of like the idea that I'm passing on my shower water to the birds for their shower during this October dry spell.

Now for a few other birdbath photos from around the yard:

 

Young robin in the backyard bird bath this spring



 

Dark-eyed junco mid-bath - not a very flattering shot

 

Three finches drinking



If you have a bird bath, please remember to keep it full and clean right now.