Water Babies

I have been a bit slack lately, I started writing this post about three or four days ago. Just goes to show I do actually work through the week! We feed the birds on a regular basis in our back yard, and one of the things birds like to do after dinner is clean up. The birdbath becomes a busy place and for the most part they are a bit shy about going there when I am watching. Understandable as I wouldn't be happy with a bunch of birds watching me take a bath either!

So I set up the camera and the remote so that they could have their privacy and I could still get the shots. The only trouble was I could see the birdbath from the computer so I had to go by sound alone. If I heard a splash I pushed the remote button. It worked surprisingly well!

What surprised me the most was not only the amount of birds you can fit into a tiny bird bath, but the different types of birds and their interactions with each other. The sparrows would sit around the edges while the starlings splashed about, this gave them a light cooling off shower without having to get totally into the water. It seemed to work for many of them - not all though, as there were some sparrows looking like downed mice from time to time.

Capturing fast flight

Juvenile Starling - I was quite taken with the spots :)

So after all my efforts to capture the fast little waxeyes in flight, I have decided the shots don't really excite me all that much. I prefer the image with more character. They are such quirky little birds with the cutest of faces that just make you want to go "awwww", but when in flight they are just another bird flying. How sad is that :)

Female Sparrow

Over the last few months that I have been photographing the waxeyes in my backyard, I have come to know some of them.  There is one that has small white feathers sticking out on the side - she seems to be a prolific breeder as we have seen several clutches of chicks from her since spring - and there is 'broken beak'. Broken beak is named because of one of his deformities. He has half the bottom of his beak broken off, and he is missing a couple of claws on his feet. He comes daily for food and is probably only alive because of the easy food supply.

'Broken Beak' leaping to another perch

Broken beak is also no stranger to the camera. Whenever I am striving to get a particular shot of the  birds when it comes time for processing nine out of ten shots will be of him. He is not as flighty as the others and will sit longer on the tree branches before jumping up to the feeders. He waits his turn and in that time I get to fire off the camera. I can't see it is him from a distance so end up taking huge amounts of shots of the same bird, which of course I don't want to do!

'Broken Beak' again during lift-off

I must do some research on the life span of the waxeyes, as this little guy has obviously decided to make this home and expects to be fed. I am sure winter would be harder for him than right now when there is an abundance of food about - time will tell as to whether he keeps visiting the feeder or not.

'Broken Beak' in flight

'Broken Beak' in flight

The Starling

The starlings fly in a flock. They arrive in a flock and they make enough noise to scare off anything other than the sparrows. Their chicks are very aggressive and bully their parents constantly. That being said, it is the starlings who are most timid in the water bath. I find this rather amusing because when we head to the beach you can often see the starlings scavenging for food at the low tide mark, so they are not afraid of water.  Today's post is devoted to the starlings and their antics in the water bath. They splash so much water about I almost need to refill it after each one!

A bit of fun

Sometimes it is not about taking a great photo, it is just about recording the moment. This afternoon the sun was so bright that any photo of took of the birds in the back yard was almost certain to be a silhouette, so there wasn't much point in trying. Then the birds decided it was bath time and I just couldn't resist. None of these photos are technically correct, or even close for that matter but they are fun to look at and that is what counts.

The communal puddle

 

Before I was able to park my car in our garage, I used to park it on the lawn. After several years of doing this, there were a few holes in the lawn where the ground got a bit soft and muddy over the winter. All that is left now is one dent in the lawn that fills with water whenever it rains. The birds love it! So much so that sometimes I will put a bucket or two of water in it for them to play in when there are been no rain.

So rejuvenated the puddle this afternoon with a bit of water and within minutes I had a huge number of birds splashing about in it. There were blackbirds, starlings, chaffinches, sparrows and waxeyes all in there together! It made for a very crowded puddle. The puddle is the one place where I haven’t seen any of the bird hierarchy that I witness in the trees and feeding stations. They just share the puddle without a care.

The waxeyes are very cute when they are wet, their feathers look so bedraggled and their big eyes just look so forlorn and sad. Either that or they catch me watching them and turn into angry birds! They give me such faces, as if to tell me that their privacy is important and I am violating it! I take no notice at all and carry on photographing them.

Oh on the blackbird front, we have a nest with eggs residing on the side of our fence in a clematis bush. Unfortunately I can’t get the camera in there or I would be recording their progress, but I can see them which is kind of fun. I just hope none of the neighbourhood cats find it. I don’t think they would be able to get in easily so they should be pretty safe. 

The others...

Continuing on from yesterday’s blog post, today I have the other birds that visited the puddle of water that the waxeyes were playing in. Most were just using it as a drinking hole, clearly not wanting to wash in the same water as the little greenies.

Top Dog - The Starling

There were plenty of house sparrows about as usual and only one or two chaffinches. What was interesting from watching was the hierarchy of the bird species. The starlings have established themselves as the top dogs and will chase away anyone in their way. Followed closely by the blackbirds who believe this is their turf! The sparrows and chaffinch were the first (because they are quick and brave) and the last to feed after being chased off by the bigger birds.

The Blackbird

House Sparrow

Chaffinch

Pair of House Sparrows