Partaaaaay!

Just before we went off on our break last week, we moved the bird bath, which we've had since shortly after we moved here, from a place at the back of the rose bed where we can barely see it and rarely remember to clean it out and refill it, to the steps at the edge of the patio. By the time we got home again it needed refilling, which seemed a little strange because the weather hadn't been especially warm.

This morning we realised who was to blame. When house sparrows decide to have a pool party, they really go for it - to the slight disgruntlement of the goldfinches and greenfinches, which behave much more decorously, and tend to wind up sitting on the edge like this, waiting for all the thrashing and splashing to finish before taking their turn. I know that where sparrows are an introduced species they're not wildly popular, but in their rightful place they're really quite amusing.

In other news, the ivy bees are out - but I was working with a long lens today, so I'll save them until I can get back to their nest with the macro.