One thing about the fountains at Lake Shore East Park – they provide an irresistible temptation to bathe for the birds. At least for the Common Grackles that have been hanging out there in numbers.
The first video is from September 4 and the second one is from yesterday, September 18, exactly two weeks later. On the 4th a House Sparrow joined in but I didn’t manage to get him in the video. Yesterday a Gray-Cheeked Thrush responded to the temptation of flowing water.
Gray-Cheeked Thrush
At first I thought this was a Swainson’s Thrush but on closer review it turned out to be Gray-Cheeked which is much more unusual.
Apologies for the construction noise accompanying the second video! They’re building another high-rise apartment building across from the park.
A few more bathing stills…
The last is with the House Sparrow before I started the video recording.
Come on in, the water’s fine!
Great! That water looks inviting! We had such hot days that I would have jumped in with the birds! 🙂
Thanks for the comment, H.J.! I know, we had the heat and we’ve been through a drought too. Although since yesterday afternoon it’s been raining like it wants to make up for it. 🙂
hah hah, nice! Something about birds bathing always makes me smile. I wonder if they knew this water feature would work so well as a bath?
Thanks for your comment. I know, I love to see birds bathing, and I still get a kick out of my indoor birds when they all crowd into the pie plate and splash water everywhere (there’s paper on the floor). As for the design of the water feature, I don’t know if they anticipated birds would bathe in it but it’s a really nice design. There are four of them in the park, two at each end.There is water running off each side into stone gravel spaces that serve as paths between them, so it’s this feeling of continuous flowing water that attracts birds and…well, people too,