Splish splash, two bushtits in the bath

What a delight it was to observe not one, but two brown-eyed bushtits in the birdbath. Although we have seen groups of bushtits hopping in the branches of the cape honeysuckle directly behind the birdbath, eating the blossoms of the plant, this is the first time we observed them in the birdbath.

And because these birds are so small, two of them could share the bath. As you can see in the photo above, they were really enjoying themselves, splashing and diving. To the left you can see one bird's head starting to emerge from the water, while to the right, only the tail feathers of the other bird can be seen as it dives into the bath.

Here one of the bushtits is done with its bath and hopped out, before it flew onto a cape honeysuckle branch to dry off.

The other bushtit decided to stay longer and relax in the bath.

And finally, time to dry off, preen, and fluff the feathers.