There are several birdbaths in my garden, but this song sparrow took a dip in a puddle that formed on a black plastic tarp. Last spring I covered a large part of a flowerbed with it, in hope of taming some out of control alstroemeria. After some rain, this song sparrow came along and took a leisurely, yet vigorous bath! It must have taken several minutes. After all the feathers were clean, he flew off to continue his preening out of sight in a nearby shrub, but not before taking one last head first dive into the water!
in cahoots with muddy boots 
Soooo cute!
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I agree! 😊
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Wow! Those are impressive shots of the bird bathing. I’ll have to look for something that will make a good birdbath and not a mosquito factory.
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Marlene, my feathered friends love plant saucers of varying depths best! I just rinse them daily and we have no problems with mosquitos. This is the same bird that sang for you in the garden last spring! 🙋
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I’ll keep that in mind.
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Oh my! Great shots of the little bird. As we continue developing our yard and gardens, more and more visitors are coming. They are fun to watch. Have a fabulous week, Sabine!
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In the right environment one can get all kinds of avian visitors! Enjoy your week too, Missy!
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It seemed to enjoy the water.
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Yes, I agree!
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Any port in a storm Sabine! I have always delighted in watching birds take a bath – they have such joy in it, flipping their wings and the same joy is found on the water in your tarp, a puddle in the street or a fancy birdbath. They all do quite nicely. I like how this sparrow keeps watching you – he hears your camera perhaps so that is why he went elsewhere to towel off and fluff up. 🙂 I came home from walking one day last week to find a dove in my gutter having a bath. It was quiet, however, I went to check on my sad-looking backyard and saw water sprinkled on the sidewalk – knew it was not raining (for a change) and looked up to see water coming out of the gutters. Did not make me happy as I had them cleaned in November and the handyman does not come til later this month when all the maple and elm seeds are done. Now we have the poplar fuzz floating around too. I got the same indignant look for watching (and taking a picture).
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Yes, any body of water is appreciated by those feathered friends. They always fly off into the shrubs to preen and clean after bathing. I think it’s for protection because wet feathers don’t work as well! Plus they’re out of sight from predators while they’re vulnerable.
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Yes, this is true … they are like the geese who will soon lose their flight feathers. They take at least six to eight weeks to complete moulting and cannot fly during this time. They spend most their time on the water where they are safe from land predators.
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