The morning started well at about +5C and with fairly clear skies and plenty of sunshine it climbed to +10.6C in the shade though with a cool breeze it didn't feel all that warm. Mid morning I made a trip to Focus (top up with bird seed) and then on to Wyevale Garden Centre (suet treats, dried mealworms and a couple of orchid plants).
Needless to say the fine weather didn't last all day as once it was near afternoon walkabout time the rain arrived. Fortunately we found a short lull and managed to stay fairly dry. When we returned the rain came down even harder but that didn't put off some hungry birds. For the first time I saw two Stock Doves on the lawn in the afternoon. Normally they only appear early morning and are usually gone soon after 7 a.m..
Their waterproofing must be good as the raid drops stood on top of their feathers. After a short while a Wood Pigeon slowly ambled across the lawn. If I hadn't seen it move normally I would have thought it was injured by what I saw it do next.
It slowly lifted and stretched first one wing then the other, leaning its body to expose the body feathers under the wings to the rain. It seemed to me it was obviously having a shower. After letting some rain fall on the feathers it would then give them a quick preen.
I managed a short piece of video through a window which was well and truly rain soaked.
Noises off are the local House Sparrows, rain and Bobby crunching his tea! I can't say I can remember ever seeing a bird take a shower in the rain before today. Even just watching the local wildlife in a back garden brings interesting and surprising behaviour.
Amazing John. Something I've never seen before either. You got great captures and video footage.
ReplyDeleteThe bird at bath -- what a treat! As Yogi Berra (a famous old school American baseball player, also famous for his quirky observations) once said "you can see a lot just by looking." You are certainly a person who does a lot of looking. Thanks for sharing what you see.
ReplyDeletecheers,
Wilma
What an excellent photo essay of a fun encounter. Isn't it fun to get excited over such things!? Congratulations on your award from John! It's been a pleasure to visit your blog! ~karen
ReplyDeleteThat really was fascinating John, I have never seen that behaviour before, well done for capturing it! I also loved Bobby's 'noises off' :)
ReplyDeleteIts amazing what they do John. I have seen them bathing in puddles of water in a car park.
ReplyDeleteThank you Keith. Right place, right time again.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure Wilma. I never know what the locals will get up to next but they are always entertaining to watch.
ReplyDeleteHello KaHolly. Thank you for visiting and commenting. It helps when you are in your second childhood - all things seem wonderful and exciting again ;)
ReplyDeleteHello Jan. These things only last a few minutes so it was pure chance to capture the event. Filming or no filming, when a dog's got to eat - a dog's got to eat!
ReplyDeleteHello Roy. They don't seem to like deep water do they, unlike the Starlings and the Sparrows which like to splash it all over.
ReplyDeleteHi, my wife and I witnessed 2 pigeons and 2 doves doing exactly the same thing (wing lifting) during the afternoon of Thursday 25 Mar 2010 when the rain was absolutely pouring down. We had never seen this behaviour before. It was quite fascinating to watch. The birds leaned over so far we thought they would topple over!
ReplyDeleteHello Anon. It is fascinating to watch and I kept wondering if the pigeon would fall over.
ReplyDeleteI've seen this behaviour a few times and it never stops me chuckling. I don't think it's just columba palumbus (woodpigeon) who do this either as i once was driving in heavy rain and looked up at what looked like a huge bird on a telephone wire. As i got closer i realised it was actually a different member of the family - a collared dove with one wing raised to the sky taking a shower in an identical fashion. Great footage by the way.
ReplyDelete