Enthusiastic Bathing Birdies

I checked our BirdCam to see if we'd been fortunate enough to snap a photo of the hawk capturing his lunch. No such luck, but we did get a series of pictures of enthusiastic bathers, which I winnowed down to a few. In summer the birds appreciate a good bath to rid themselves of pests and parasites, and in winter our birdbath, heated just enough to never freeze, exerts an intense attraction.

Here a female cardinal splashes daintily as a junco awaits her turn.

Among the prettiest visitors are the blue jays.

Sometimes the camera catches an avian citizen in flight.

Some species prefer to quickly fly by the bath first, inspecting it on the wing, and perch just beyond. Only when everything looks satisfactory will they land on the rim, and even then they are constantly scanning for danger (deservedly so!). Others, particularly the cardinals, prefer to sneak up on the birdbath by hopping through the honeysuckle vines that entwine the step railings, emerging only at the last moment. 

Robins are year-round, but the bath in winter is a special point of congregation.

Handsome winter-time pests are the starlings. Their peroxided feather-edges catch they eye, but they'll empty the birdbath just from splashing around, and then poop in it.

The petite tufted titmouse is the best. Whee!

More ornithological sightings

I hope the readers of this blog aren't getting tired of ornithological sightings; we sure aren't. The barred owl I stalked with my camera this morning was skittish, so I snapped one good pose and then left him/her alone. He's definitely chosen a favorite spot to perch in the daytime, where we've seen him stay for hours.

Papa cardinal was enjoying the sun.

 

Mama Cardinal

A pair of cardinals has established a nest in, off all places, the honeysuckle on the stairs leading up to the deck. We told them that we would minimize our traffic up and down those stairs, but couldn't eliminate it entirely. We hope they understand. At least they are on the outer, not inner, side of the railing.

Mama cardinal is very well camouflaged amongst the vines, except for her bright red beak.

She's been sitting faithfully on the nest for several days. During mama's occasional trip to the birdbath, just a few feet away, Joan checks out the nest. As far as she can see, there are only two eggs. Three to four is more typical; possibly it's a young pair.

In case you're wondering, we've had occasional owl sightings (aural and visual), but the adults are still tending to the eggs/chicks and there have been no photo ops yet.