Last Thursday, I set out for a little walk and saw something amazing in our driveway.
It was cold.
It had been raining and snowing,
and there were icy mud puddles in our gravel driveway.
And there were birds bathing in these mud puddles.
(I think they might be Dark-eyed Juncos. Maybe.)
(Also known as Oregon Juncos, btw.)
Like I've said before, I don't know much about birds.
There must be important benefits to this bird bathing stuff.
My sweetie and I speculated and joked about it later.
Was it some sort of bird gang initiation?
You wanna be in the Dark Feather Brotherhood?
Break the ice, dunk your head, and flutter, little bird!
Or maybe it's a competition?
You think you made a splash? That's nuthin'! Check this out!
Then a towhee* showed up, and the other birds left.
(Guess their gangs don't flock together.
Who knew a mud puddle could be contested turf?)
And the towhee took up right where they'd left off.
That's a chunk of ice just to his left.
And yes, a dusting of snow in the background.
Here he goes . . .
Brrrrrrrr!
* I had initially identified the towhee as a robin, until someone who knew something about birds set me straight. My apologies!
