Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Chill Out


The multipurpose water bowl out back gets lots of use by a variety of drinkers.
The songbirds use it, the chickens drink from it when they are free ranging, the dogs lap from it ... I personally haven't tasted the water in the bowl, but apparently it's pretty tasty.

It's probably the green coating of unicellular algae coating the bottom and sides that give it a distinctive flavor.


Last year, I posted similar photos except the bird in the jacuzzi was a blue jay. This year it's the cardinal that's chilling out.

Perched on the high dive above the pool ...

Am I having a "good feather day" or what?

I guess standing on the edge of the high dive is not very scary when you have wings.


Pupdate: Gumbo is home and doing fine. He seems so tiny next to Bear who grew last week, while sick little Gumbo lost weight. Bear seems to think Gumbo is the neatest chew toy he's ever received and we are running some interference for Gumbo when THE BEAR gets a little too exuberant.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

We keep a bowl a lot like that in our backyard, ostensibly for Max to get himself a drink, but I think a lot of other critters put it to use as well.

lej619 said...

great bird pictures!!
i bet gumbo will have some great stories to tell of his adventures to the vet and his sleep over there.hehe
glad he's home and doing so good!

Anonymous said...

Good to hear Gumbo is doing better and I hope progress continues. The bird photos are great. We get a lot of cardinals. They are so beautiful.
Momadness

Anonymous said...

Drinking someone else's bathwater? That's for the birds, dude. If anyone has ever tried to take a nice portrait of anything with wings, they'll tell you it's about as difficult as winning the lottery twice. Excellence, FC.
Gumbo has some growing to do! GO GUMBO GO!!!

Anonymous said...

I am so glad to see Gumbo back at home again! He looks like he's laughing along with you in the photo below.
And if he has any decent lab in him at all, he'll put that weight back on in no time at all. They're notorious for their appetites!

Great photos of the birds, especially the cardinal. Every time I try to get a cardinal photo, they fly off as soon as they hear the slightest noise or detect any movement whatsoever. The ones that live around here are rather skittish, probably because of the cats!

h said...

I need to start reading this blog religiously again. I didn't even know Gumbo and Bear existed. They look like happy critters now.

The next Mute Monday is one you ought to be good at!

Anonymous said...

Every dog or cat I see around our house or my mother's prefers to drink water out of the flower pots or a rusty pail over clean, fresh water. It really must taste better. To them, I mean.

Stacy said...

Sooo, what are you shooting with?

R.Powers said...

Pablo,
Same here, especially in the drought. Did you catch the background minutiae in that pic? You usually catch stuff.

Lej,
He hasn't stopped talking about it yet! He's repeating himself now ...

Momadness,
They are so brilliant!

Freste,
Glad you liked the cardinal. Gumbo is eating to make up for last week so he should start showing some gain.

Laura,
No invited cats here, just old dogs, so my cards may be more at ease.
Gumbo is feeling totally frisky these days and driving us crazy.
I'm glad for that!

Troll,
Glad to see you again. I'll drop by and check out Mute M.

Mark,
I think you make a good point. Same thing happens here.

Stacy,
Check out my sidebar camera info!
:)

Kathleen said...

Joy! Joy! Joy! We are all grateful for puppy prayers and modern meds! welcome home Gumbo!

The cardinal closeup - fabulous!

SwampAngel65 said...

So happy to hear Gumbo's doing better. He is adorable (so is Bear!) and sure to give those chickens a run for their money soon!

Stacy said...

I r a gud reeder. :)

MamaHen said...

Great bird photos! Much better than the last pic on your last post; that wonderful shot of Bear and Gumbo's butts!!! LOL!!!

kathy a. said...

sweet birdbath!

and -- it's not that bear isn't a terrific pup. but gumbo has had a hard time, and the cheering section is pulling for him.

threecollie said...

Love the cardinal on the faucet. I dunno why, but the birds won't use my bird bath. Maybe I better get some algae.

Dr. Know said...

Got a bird pond and the typical birdbath here. They are both rigged to a timer which fills and somewhat flushes them each day. But the strangest and most delightful addition is the flower pot saucer I placed under my office window to keep the birds from drinking the Legionnaire's A/C condensate. I can watch a variety of birds bathe from 2 feet away and they seem to pay no mind to my activity. Even Towhees which reject normal baths love the thing because it's hidden in the shrubbery. I ponder about recording them with a video camera, but thus far... only procrastination.

Great Cardinal shots, BTW.

This is my Favorite Cardinal Shot A wildlife rescue - broken leg, blind in one eye. Yeah, I know...

R.Powers said...

Sadly, Gumbo has backslid and is at the vet again.
Nobody's giving up, but it's not good news.

Kathleen,
Glad you liked him. He had just fluffed his wet feathers.

Swampangel,
That is my wish too!

Stacy,
LOL!

Edifice,
Hah! I wondered about that shot!

Kathy A,
I know. Bear understands.

3C,
Yup, you need slime.

Doc,
That sounds like a wonderful arrangement.

Anonymous said...

Well, I don't see whatever background details you're talking about. I have a chest cold though, so that's my excuse.

R.Powers said...

Pablo,
The T-shirt. I hope you feel better!

Anonymous said...

Are you referring to the post BEFORE this one? The one where you have the Florida Cracker tee-shirt on? I did catch that at the time but I looked in vain for some interesting detail on this post.