Young House Finch Visitor

The house finches have been back in the neighborhood for about a month.

They are some of the most frequent visitors of our makeshift birdbath, either drinking the water or bathing in it.

Last Sunday while I was working in our backyard a trio of house finches landed around the bath, on the platform. They were a male and what I thought were two females.

They immediately took flight when I looked up at them.

Later, when I stood two feet away from the birdbath, pruning a shrub, there suddenly was a flapping of wings right next to me. Imagine my surprise when I looked up to see this house finch had landed on the platform and was perched on the rim of the birdbath calmly taking in its surroundings.

It was completely unafraid of me.

The bird sat there for a total of twenty minutes (!), sometimes moving sideways along the rim of the bath, and sometimes taking little sips of water.

I figured that this must be a young house finch.

Its father kept an eye on it from a branch high in the crab apple tree, somehow knowing that I wasn't going to touch or harm baby finch.

Eventually papa finch started to call out to the young finch, who seemed to have decided that there was no reason to leave the birdbath.

Here is papa finch quietly peering at me through the blackberry vines.

After it had its fill of gazing in the birdbath and enjoying the peaceful surroundings of the patio, the young house finch flew off .