#birds A Junko is almost invisible in the spray while it takes a bath in the mid-morning light. (last week)

#birds Song Sparrow and Junco - sharing the bath... (from last week).

Our little duckling a week old and in need of a name

#birds Late season cardinals.

Sometimes when searching Google, I forget to turn off AI results. In this case I was looking for a Norse poem called "Outspoken Verses" (which failed). So I tried "plain speaking verses" and got a lot of random trash about how to write. 1/4

#birds In case you wanted some face-time with a starling, here you go. No idea what it's saying, but it is very interested in whatever is going on...

#birds - An early morning bath - to start the day clean!

#birds some starlings sitting still so you can see them...

#birds Last week - the starlings were all over the place... I think this is ten separate birds - arriving and departing...

Light speed is fast, but space is vast...

#birds A robin takes a bath - turn up the audio a bit to hear the splashing. The morning light really makes it a lovely scene.

#birds Two robins - facing off - are unexpectedly interrupted.

#birds Starlings are now passing thru on their way south.

#birds Captured by accident by my web-cam. Beautiful symmetry! Have no idea who this is...

#birds These are frames I snipped from this morning's video from the Friends Of Big Bear Valley YouTube channel. All compliments are due to the team there that tracks the local wild-life. Raptor - backlit by sunrise.

#moon #astronomy The Moon looked lovely, so I grabbed my telescope and my phone and took a picture. That bright spot in the upper left corner is "Aristarchus Crater" (Wikipedia: "Aristarchus_(crater)").

#birds A Mourning Dove is in the bath - and raises each wing - I've seen them do this before - no other bird seems to do this at this bird-bath...

#birds Another shot of the female Cardinal in the bath with some House Sparrows. The early morning light really shows the color of the feathers.

#birds - The early morning light brings the birds to the bath. One of those is not a sparrow...

#birds - Three snapshots of the same Blue Jay getting into and using the bird-bath. Yes - it looks like mange - but this is late season molt.

No bird pictures (other than a couple of poor images of Mourning Doves) in the last week. Either the bird-bath is not needed (cooler weather) or else they are commuting to their winter homes.

#astronomy #TCrB With just my cellphone a few minutes ago, here's Polaris and Kolchab with some mild cloudiness. Heavily edited to make it more clear. (I'm practicing for when T Corona Borealis goes boom - it will be about as bright at these two stars. Right now it's invisible to my cameras.)

avi-loeb.medium.com/does-3i-atla... #astronomy #comet #interstellar An interstellar comet coming thru our solar system has a "tail" that points *at* the Sun, rather than away. In addition, it is too bright for a normal comet. Something new is on the way!

THE BACKWARD TAIL OF COMET 3I/ATLAS www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?... "The tail of 3I/ATLAS points almost straight toward the sun. Normally, comet dust tails are pushed away from the sun by radiation pressure. 3I/ATLAS is doing the opposite—it's backwards." This is a fascinating read.

#birds - This is a Gray Catbird - it rarely comes to the birdbath - haven't seen one in over a year.

#birds Eastern Downy Woodpecker (presumably female - no red spot on the back of the head). I saw one in a tree a couple of days ago - and now it's visiting the birdbath! (First time ever getting an image of this bird. It's never come to the birdbath before!)

Apparently LLM's are being trained by Matthew Paris, a famous chronicler from the 13th century - most of his LATIN text has been included in this list, as well as books written about him (e.g., one by Richard Vaughn). This is clearly worrisome. www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

#birds The Grackle is still waiting for it's feathers to grow in - either that or else many of them near my house are going through this stage at the same time. It's almost like some kind of zombie movie.

#birds A Mourning Dove sits on the edge.

#birds Robins and House Sparrows sometimes share the birdbath and sometimes they don't.

#birds Sparrows in the bath. I can't keep count. Can you?

#chipmunk - This image is from a week or two ago. It was beastly hot - so I put out a ceramic plate filled with water for the bees and anyone else. The camera caught a lovely pose from a chipmunk.

#birds Species interaction. Who knew Mourning Doves take precedence? Usually Robin baths take forever and are followed by a lot of preening. I love the entrance march from behind the plants.

#birds A Northern Flicker drinking in the early morning light.

#birds - One learns that birds keep small rocks in their gullet to help grind the incoming nutrition... but here's proof that this Robin is getting rid of one of them (and presumably will pick up a new one shortly).

#birds This poor male grackle is in molt, and he's lost almost all the feathers on his head - which gives him this horrible appearance. And yet - the morning light shows how the rest of his feathers glisten and shine beautifully.

#birds A robin in the bath. If you turn up the audio - you'll hear early morning suburban traffic/construction sounds, but you'll also hear background birdsong and the slapping of the robin's wings in the bath.

#birds A grackle gets a drink from the bird bath - the shimmer of the feathers is something that astonishes me every time!

#birds A portrait of a Mourning Dove in the bird-bath in mid-afternoon light.

#birds This is a female Northern Cardinal taking a bath. I had no idea that the under-feathers were so colorful!

#birds Another visit from one of the Flickers.

#birds A delightful surprise - an immature (non-breeding) Goldfinch. I knew there were some near - but this is the first visit to the bird bath this year. (I kept the immature Robin interruption at the end for scale...)

The chipmunk is checking out the flavor of it's captured booty, presumably a tomato from our garden. Once it's value has been determined, it is quickly dropped down the hole (invisible in the grass) and heads out for more booty.

#birds A Mourning Dove contemplates the bird bath before drinking.

#birds - A Blue Jay is enjoying the bird bath, but all you see is a mess of water droplets and some hints of color.

#birds Two images of the American Robin - notice how different they are? 😉

#birds A comparison picture: a Blue Jay and a Northern Flicker at the bird-bath. A few seconds later, in the video, the Flicker has stared down the Blue Jay and it leaves. Ten seconds later, it comes back to the bird bath.

#birds - more camera-snaps of a Blue Jay in the bath - water droplets everywhere. The first one shows tail-high - almost a pure triangle with a flag on top. The second one is all a blurry mess with water everywhere.

#birds I just love how the dappled morning light shows off the birds in the bath. And again, so many sparrows - they are just delightful to watch!