Testing the water?

We're sharing our pool ( at the Bali resort) with all the small birds in the area, it seems. It's a real joy to see them come flying in and dipping heads and tails in the water. I think this may be another Blip first for me this week, as far as I can see none of the finches I've seen today are listed in the BlipBigYear list, so here we go with a first one: These are called Java Sparrow (though they are finches !). Their scientific name is Padda oryzivora, also called Lonchura oryzivora. Common names: Java Finch, Java Rice Sparrow or Java Rice Bird, it is a small estrildid finch and a resident breeding bird in Java, Bali and Bawean in Indonesia. The Balinese call all these finches 'Prit" which is a great name as it sounds like their tweets.

We had a lazy day, adjusting to the time change, soaking in the warmth and watching the birds from our patio. Of course we also did a walk (around the golf course) and we'll go and have a drink and hopefully watch a beautiful sunset over the Tanah Lot temple in an hour at the Sunset bar :-)

PS there's no discrimination amongst all these finches, they mix perfectly during their bath ! See an example in my Blipfolio