This time of year, the skies and grounds, and birdbaths are filled with flocks of brown, (and black) birds.
I love watching them.
I felt like a sneaky peeker the other day, as I tried to hide in the dark of the dining room and watch them bathe
They made a great amount of noise, chattering and splashing.
These photos don't show the true amount of them. It seemed like there were a hundred but they saw me and most flew away. Still others came in waves, and I stood back across the room watching.
Yes the water and fountain are a bit...mucky. About every other day I add fresh water to it. Several times I have dumped all the water out and blasted the green slimy sides with the hose on jet, trying to clean it. But it insists on being sludgy. And apparently the birds prefer it that way. The first year I had it when it was all white, and the water clear, I had scarcely a visitor. Now, they love it. It seems they picnic in it, there are bits of seeds, and feathers, and bugs, and berries. There are also bits of leaves, and flowers, and twigs. And sometimes I notice these tiny worm like creatures living in the water, which I do not know if I should work hard to eradicate or just let be. Do they help or harm the birds?
I guess it is not so much a fountain as it is a rather small odd pond.
If this was a bird spa this would be the mud bath.
3 comments:
Those pics were great as always.
You know, I saw a male and female cardinal in my back yard the other day and it made me so happy because I was worried the neighbor's cat had got them. Moments later a large blue jay landed on the back porch. It made my day. Lame, but true.
Lovely pics, Taff! Are you sure the tiny wormy things are not perhaps mosquito larvae? (Assuming you get mozzies where you are.)
I have a pond, a birdbath and a water feature in my garden and the squirrels and birds will drink from whichever one they fancy on any given day - but I have to say the sight of a huge guinea fowl perched on the edge of the not so big birdbath is very funny! :-)
Paul,
Lame? No no no, lame is not being excited by such things, being happy by such sights is wonderful, a most lovely way to live. Not lame at all, it would be a shame to live any other way. Being jaded is so overrated.
Vanilla,
Oh indeed we do, or at least used to. Oddly enough (perhaps because of west Nile virus someone sprayed and killed this years crop off?) I only recall seeing one mosquito this year.
Ohhhh, got a picture of it?
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