8/25/09

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.

7 comments:

Katie said...

That is such a fun story. I like how they do it like clockwork daily. Birds tend to do funny things like that!

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

They look like House Sparrows. It's really interesting how birds seem to get on a schedule like that. Great videos, they look cute in the birdbath.

LostRoses said...

I'm liking that birdbath, Chuck, it looks like a natural rock with a hollowed-out surface to catch water which is something I'd like to find. Yeah, they're House sparrows, the little buggers.

chuck b. said...

So, I was reading about house sparrows. They're evil!

Frances said...

Hi Chuck, I enjoyed hearing the sounds as much as seeing the birds. Even if they are lowly sparrows, they are quite special and worthy of your attentions. You are so fastidious, cleaning out the birdbath so quickly. I must never let you see the inside of my house. The garden is fairly well kept, although less so with each passing year, but the house is not. :-)
Frances

lisa said...

That was fun! I'm trying to get a decent movie of the cats wrestling...elusive thus far.

Annie in Austin said...

They may be only house sparrows, Chuck but at least they're clean, wet, lbb's.

Are you taking these through a window or do you go outside? Your bird videos are so much clearer and nicer than the ones I've caught of goldfinches and blue jays.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose