A house finch male in the bath and..

hey, the American robins are back!

What an unusual sight at the birdbath, a house finch male in the bath while the robin patiently stands by, taking occasional sips of water.

So what's unusual about this?

First of all, I haven't seen house finches in the garden, let alone in the birdbath, for at least a couple of months.

And, although the robins always return around this time of year for the winter, none of them have ever visited the birdbath. I've often wondered about this because I'm sure they have spotted the bath while hanging out in the redwood tree next door.

Maybe it's because of the smoky air we've been getting from the Camp Fire further northeast.

I've been cleaning and filling the bath every day with fresh filtered water, so it acts as an oasis for the birds, especially these days.

And what are the two birds looking at?

The Yelow-rumped warbler (first sighting in the garden) that flew past.

The finch really doesn't want to leave the bath, so the robin decided to just keep drinking water.

After about ten minutes the finch decided that it was clean enough, and flew away.

The robin looks a little surprised, doesn't it?