Bird bath bonanza

After all the rain we've had in the past 24 hours, our neighbor Bonny has a large (but unintended) birdbath in her backyard, and these water-loving birds have discovered it. You saw the beginning of this birdbath if you looked at yesterday's blip, but since then it has grown and become quite extensive. I wasn't too keen about shooting another blip through my dirty kitchen window, so I headed out the front door and sneaked around the house to get this one. To be completely truthful, I had to sneak out there four times before I got this picture.

At first, only the two mallards were wading in the water. Mallards seem to have a BLIPPER ALERT that warns them when I come their way with my camera,and as soon as I crept around the corner of the house, they waddled away. So I headed back into the house, dried off the camera, and looked out the window, and there they were again. Back out I went. This time, as I stood there watching them waddle away, two Canada geese came stalking into the picture, and the mallards beat a retreat. They didn't go far though, and after two more attempts, I finally captured this picture.

We've had enough rain and cool temperatures (currently 47 degrees), and I am yearning for the return of sunshine and warmth. I hope your weather is smiling on you wherever you are.

Memo to Blippers from Australia and New Zealand...my oldest grandson is on his way to visit your beautiful countries. He and one of his Army buddies decided they needed to see a part of the world they didn't get to visit in their various deployments with the Army. He will be in Australia for approximately two weeks and then one week in NZ (Lucky boy!). Should you run into a tall, red haired, handsome American, please remind him to send some pictures to his grandmother. Thanks!