The Big Fun

...with little brown birds.

Currently, the Big Fun in the garden comes from the flock of LBBs that visit for a bath every day, quite reliably, around 11:30 a.m.

They start out assembling in the neighbor's bamboo and pear tree. Then they migrate closer in to the birdbath on my Ceanothus and Fuchsia boliviana. After a few minutes of these reconnaissance maneuverings, 2 or 3 of them go for the birdbath. When it's clear they won't be molested, the rest of the flock joins the bath, each for about 30 seconds. When the whole crew has bathed, they go back to the bamboo or pear to dry out for a few minutes. Then they fly away, always north. I then run down to empty out the dirty bathwater, and refill it with fresh water.

The whole event, from assembly to departure, happens in less than 10 minutes.

I'd take a movie of the whole thing, but it would take forever to upload. Here are a couple short movies instead.





Added: Here are 2 in the Ceanothus, scoping out the scene.



And another movie at the bath.