This robin sat in the birdbath for the longest time before he actually took a bath. It reminded me of sitting in the shallow end of the pool – or a lake – just to feel the coolness of the water. I was fascinated by him, so I got the camera with the long range lens. I thought he might just stay there for a while and he did.
Eventually, he took a brief bath.
The lazy bird’s preferred method of bathing.
I can’t blame him/her. After a season of scouting nest locations, laying eggs, raising babies, constantly supplying them with food while in the nest, chasing off potential predators, and helping them fledge, birds deserve a rest. A reward for a job well done.
Speaking of birds, we have a little Carolina wren who has chosen his nighttime perch. It’s our porch light, which is right next to the front door. It took me some time to figure out what was happening out there. Sometimes I would open the front door and go out on the porch to put something in the recycling bin and a bird would quickly fly away. I wasn’t sure where the bird had been because it was dark. And I wasn’t sure of his size. After this happened a few times, I realized the little bird was perching on the porch light. So I tried to refrain from going out on the porch after dusk. But I did see a Carolina wren fly from the perch when I was sitting in the den, drinking a cup of coffee. He flew to the maple tree. Mystery solved.
If I get up early and open the inside door, I can eventually hear the sounds of the little Carolina wren waking up. He makes sleepy little chirps. It’s the most adorable sound. Yesterday, I got up at 5:30 am and deliberately didn’t open the door because it was still dark outside. I sat in the den and as the morning light began to show itself, I heard him waking up.
I don’t know why Carolina wrens are so drawn to our porch but they always have been. It’s relatively safe, I know that, but this particular breed of bird loves it here. They often hang out during the day as well.
I’ve also seen a small bird fly out of the hanging plant a couple of times which makes me wonder if his/her mate is bunking down here as well. Just now, I heard him on the porch and eventually discovered him standing on the railing, chirping repeatedly. It was a relentless call, so I’m wondering if he was looking for his mate.
I am endlessly fascinated by birds, especially the delightful, smart, and full-of-personality Carolina wrens.
It rained overnight and was raining when I woke up today. I checked in with Mere yesterday. She wasn’t all that concerned about the hurricane. They were due to get lots of rain and winds. After so many years of living in Florida, she doesn’t get alarmed too easily, whereas, Don and I are immediately texting her, worried about the whole family.
Stay safe.
Happy Wednesday.
love these photos, claudia … the sweet robin, the diamond drops of splashing water, how the color of the robin’s chest matches the car’s license plate and the tiny pink flower (by the edge of the birdbath) looks like a heart. nice work!
glad you have lovely little birds (and more) to watch and watch over.
also glad that meredith isn’t in a panic over the hurricane.
praying for everyone.
a couple weeks ago i mentioned an online auction of everything from an iowa college (which sadly closed last may, due to money troubles, after 180 years). missed out on a unique old metal table (that sold for $3.75, but wouldn’t fit in my car), easels, flat files … but am happy that my sister and i bid on and won two things … benches from the art program. yesterday was the first of three days when things could be picked up so i drove to southeast iowa and got them. made a big loop … took the biggest, straightest roads to get there faster, then meandered on small roads to get home. wanted to and did go by a wider part of a river. hoped to also stop at an antique shop or two if i came across any and to get some pastries from a small town with a big dutch heritage. didn’t make it to the dutch area before stores closed because i stopped to try to help a woman stuck on the side of a rural road with car trouble (luckily someone was on the way who could fix the car). and i stopped at a very nice antique shop, found a great old cache pot (now holding a plant … well, hiding the jar it is currently in, on my desk). along the way i listened to some happy music and sermons, then (back in town) bought groceries and delivered them to members of my family, came home, showered and conked out. a good day.
today will clean those benches and have fun with family members.
hope you all are having a good day, too. stay safe.
kathy
Oh, I meant to investigate that auction and never got around to it. Congratulations on your benches!
Stay safe, Kathy.
thanks, claudia.
the auction was online and a bit overwhelming … so much stuff! hundreds and hundreds of items from dorms, office buildings, art/science/music/sports departments …. some of it was gross (mattresses from the dorms, for example), most of it very nice … art, music instruments (pianos, brass, guitars), music stands, art easels, lots of nice metal desks, tables and files (traditional and flat), bookcases. also wonderful old oak desks, files and chairs. several beautiful old oak chairs rather like your kitchen chairs? $17.00. $17.00! straight-back oak chairs? ten of them for 25 cents apiece (there were lots and lots of them)! too bad my little nissan versa couldn’t hold more … but we are happy to have the benches.
setting an alarm to watch the super-blue moon in a couple hours.
hope you all are having a nice night.
kathy
What a bargain!
xo
I thought of your sister in the TV coverage I’m seeing of the mighty hurricane. I once was cavalier about earthquakes but not since the one we had (too close to the epicenter) ten days ago (not saying Mere is cavalier, but I ‘get’ it, and I hope she continues to stay safe; when you’ve done the dance many times, it sort of becomes an accepted consequence of where we’ve chosen to live; I heard a woman in a Florida danger zone saying yesterday that her house was solid [from the 1800s] and it had withstood many of these storms, so she felt it could endure this one, too; all you can do is stay informed, do your protections and hope for the best; when I lived on the Gulf Coast for three years [60 miles inland from the beach but half as much from the port of Houston], we had so many warnings but my husband never wanted to leave the house either).
I am not seeing birds in my two bird baths outside. I’m wondering if the water in them isn’t shallow enough for bathing. We once did have a bird build a nest on top of our porch light which was under an eave. The strangest thing over the past months is a number of what my husband thinks are herons which have been roosting now in a massive tree on the hillside above us. You can hear their strange clacking ‘voices’ all over the neighborhood. They have long legs and a crooked neck, so I need to research it more and see if that seems more like a crane, but these are birds we never see around here as a rule. I think they got waylaid on migration and just decided to stay.
Thanks for your bird stories and photos today. Have a good Wednesday!
She isn’t complacent. She just knows what she’s doing. She’s lived there for about 37 or 38 years and she is always prepared but knows what to do. And she knows her area of Florida in relation to the ocean.
Stay safe, Vicki.
Oh yes, I know from you having spoken of your sister over the years that she’s an intelligent, capable woman; and of course an exceptional human being. I always remember another time when there was thought they’d get hit by a hurricane, maybe in the path, but I totally understood that to try to evacuate with an elderly dog and then with every consideration for your nephew who was much younger at the time, the best decision, weighing everything was to stay put. I was riveted on this, of how you recounted that they pitched all the patio furniture into the pool so it wouldn’t blow around but also how your sister sort of pillow-barricaded ‘Z’ safely into a closet nook as a precautionary measure; needless to say, your readers breathed a sigh of relief that all was okay after the storm blew through.
I can remember three instances when living on the Gulf where I was so scared: 1) tornado hit a neighboring city and my building (where I worked) had big windows looking out into a day that was black as night at 2pm with pounding rain. Also, 2) the sky turning green, hail hammering the house and windows; me home alone, running all four dogs (not tiny things; one was a border collie) into the tiny guest bathroom which was windowless; I can’t remember what I did with the cat nor do I recall now just where that tornado hit (missing us); and, 3) staying temporarily at a friend’s in Houston, heavy rain followed by severe flooding in the city, and the water was within an inch of coming into the house despite the raised foundation; before cell phones; before internet; my four dogs and the homeowner’s dog (big retriever) plus, again, my cat, with me thinking what can I do if this gets worse with six pets, I have no car (can’t drive anyway as there’s too much water in the street); no one’s home but me; terrifying, actually. Although strangely simultaneously numbing, too; not good, because it’s essential to remain alert.
I don’t know anything about Florida so have been trying to understand what the area is like on this west coast of theirs, apparently quite rural in places with low-population islands and really-small towns. Somehow in my brain, I always rather think that Florida is quite ‘built up’/developed, but it’s not.
You remember more about that storm than I do!
Thanks, Vicki.
xoxo
Lovely to hear you talk about your Carolina wrens. I love seeing birds enjoying their baths. Happy to hear Meredith and family are okay. It’s lovely and cool here today – sweather weather but the heat and humidity are supposed to resume next week. Hugs, Elaine
Yes I think we’re going to get humidity. In fact, it’s rather humid here today. I turned on the A/C.
Stay safe, Elaine.
We used to have a brown bird, too big to be a Carolina wren, who would sleep on the ledge near the top of one side of my front porch. I would see him a lot of nights for years when I took my dog out at night. He never moved at all while I was outside. I never saw a different bird there. When I stopped seeing him I was sad. A few weeks ago I saw another brown bird in his place. I wonder if it might be his son or grandson. It made me happy to see him. I love hearing your bird experiences. Everyone should be able to experience and appreciate such pleasures of this world. Please keep us updated on your sister. I have been so worried about her this week. I am glad she isn’t stressed about it but she probably knows how to handle the situation calmly.
I love this story. Love that fact that there might be generations of brown birds hanging out on the ledge. Makes me smile.
So far, all is well with my sister. I’ll check in with her later in the day,
Stay safe, Beverly.
I’m so happy the Robin was able to get some ‘self-care’ in the bird bath. Great photo.
Up until a week ago, I was happily feeding the orioles grape jelly. I start in early May, and this year they kept showing up…so I continued. However, they weren’t the only ones that showed up. Lots of other birds, including cardinals enjoyed the great, About three weeks ago, hornets also found the jelly, and were chasing the orioles way. The orioles had to sneak in, and outsmart the hornets. But in the end, there were more hornets than orioles, so we snuck out at night and removed the feeder. It’s pretty quiet around here without the orioles…I miss their calls. Always so cheerful.
I hope Meredith stays safe…as well as all Floridians. After having been in a hurricane many years ago by accident, I’m well aware how destructive and deadly they can be.
Enjoy your day! ;)
Oh darn it! I’m sorry you had to remove the feeder. I know you’ll miss watching the orioles. This is the time of year that I hear less and less bird song and I get sad, knowing we’re coming to the end of the season.
I’ve been in a few hurricanes right here in the Hudson Valley. But the worst was the one I went though when my sister first moved to Florida. Terrifying.
Stay safe, Donnamae.
Thanks for the report on Mere. I was going to email her and then thought that she’d be up to her ears in whatever. I’m glad she’s OK.
I love that sweet bird — and that you have a wren as a new tenant on your light! Simply delightful.
I hope he stays for a while, though I heard no early morning chirps this morning.
Stay safe, Jeanie.
I am with you on being fascinated with birds. Have been my whole life. While I’ve always had feeders, it wasn’t until I retired that I really began to indulge my bird watching hobby. Your robin pics are so cute. I’ve noticed the robins are the birds who most enjoy our bird bath spending long minutes bathing and flapping around while sending water drops flying. These final summer days I enjoy watching the goldfinches feeding off the coneflowers and sun flowers. I’m all too aware that the birdsong will start to fade as they head south and our mornings get a lot quieter
We’re all pretty excited about sweet dog joining our extended family tomorrow. Tonight I talked to Nick to ask if he was excited. He was cleaning every corner of his apartment making sure there wasn’t anything around that could cause trouble for a curious dog. The shelter employees said he doesn’t really respond to the name he came in with (probably another sign of how he was neglected) so Nick has decided to call him Charlie.
Take care,
Kay
congratulations to charlie, nick, you and the rest of your family! i am very happy for you all. :)
kathy
pressed “send” too soon …
… and thanks to nick for opening up his heart and his home to charlie. wishing you all much happiness and many chew toys for charlie always.
kathy
Thanks for the good wishes, Kathy. Nick has been sending pictures and videos ever since he and Charlie got home. They’re a perfect pair.
K.
I’ve seen goldfinches pull out tufts from the center of brown-eyed susans. They fascinate me!
How is the doggie doing, Kay?
Stay safe.
Glad Your sister is ok. We were in the bullseye of Idalia but a wobble at the last minute kept our city from a direct hit and catastrophic damage. Power and internet has been restored and clean up only took 4 hours ( tree debris) As a native Floridian I grew up with hurricanes and as a kid thought they were fun ( no school and fallen trees to make forts) As a homeowner they are definitely not fun! Take care, Jen
Just weighing in as one of Claudia’s readers here on the blog, am SO GLAD that you and your family are fine. My husband is acquainted with someone who lives a bit inland from Cedar Key and it looks like their home is lost. Just devastating damage but at least they are safe, as are you. It wasn’t the flooding for them; it was the wind that took down the house. As a native Floridian, you grew up with hurricanes. As a native Californian, I grew up with earthquakes. It’s a rock ‘n roll people can do without!
I’m so glad you’re safe, Jen!
You’re so right, they are definitely not fun.
Stay safe.
We have a series of big fluffy robins visiting our birdbaths (or one that bathes all day?) – they seem to like to just sit for a while and soak. Me too, actually, the best part of having a bathtub instead of a shower!
Good news on your sister!
Ceci
I love a good soak myself, Ceci!
Stay safe.