For The Birds

I refilled the bird bath this afternoon while preparing to make my lunch. 

With a full water jug in hand, I stepped outdoors into the cool sunshine. I lifted out and tipped over the metal water container, tapping its edge onto the dried out lawn to release and add its circle of ice to those already lying on the grass. Pouring the fresh water (neither too cool nor too warm) into the clean birdbath, I felt pleased at my small act of care and returned inside.

Finding drink is challenging, I imagine, for the house sparrows, juncos, and other seed-eating birds that busy themselves in our back yard once the temperature drops below freezing. The nearby Wakamow river is frozen over and there is no snow, so what are their options for the small amount of moisture they need to survive? But I was surprised and then delighted by the urgent avian response that I observed from my kitchen window while munching on my toast.

Within minutes there was a frenzy of birdy activity around the water.  Sparrows crowded eagerly round the edges of the birdbath as three or even four birds pushed ahead into the water, splashing and dipping before being edged out (beaked out?) by the waiting birds.  The fence rail and nearby shrubs held a dozen more birds watching attentively for their turn at the bath and provided preening perches for the damp sparrows exiting the bath.

Like a kids paddling pool on a hot July day, bodies were everywhere, jumping in, hopping out, water flying every direction.  Charmed, I watched the giddy action for twenty minutes until only a few stragglers hovered round the now muddy bathwater. Then, taking a satisfied breath, I turned away.  I had given them water. They had given me joy.