morning at the rock...

When you hear the splash
Of the water drops that fall
Into the stone bowl
You will feel that all the dust
Of your mind is washed away.
(Sen-No-Rikyu)Yesterday morning the garden was filled with “butter butts”, the yellow rumped warblers are moving through. I grabbed the camera and my cup of coffee and sat by the window to watch all the activity. Early morning, is the busiest time at the rock and the following photos are all taken within 15 minutes. First, I captured one of the YR warblers (above).

Then the robins started arriving. Each morning there are anywhere from 3 to 10 on the rock at one time. I noticed the juvenile still has a speckled breast.
Yesterday, was Ryan & Lucie’s birthday and they were on my mind. When I saw this shot, two of those robins reminded me of twins.
Next, another warbler and a goldfinch joined the robins.
This male goldfinch still has some of his bright yellow coloring left.
Along came some house sparrows, another goldfinch and a song sparrow.
Then a flicker flew in and scared off all the robins but the house sparrows and goldfinch stayed.
He kept an eye on those sparrows as he started his bath. I just love the flickers coloring and striped & spotted feathers.
It was fun to watch such a big bird, twist and turn, splish and splash.
All clean and fluffed!
The background on the rock photos will be changing. The hydrangea was dying off so last night Jeff helped me take it out. This year, I have a castor bean planted behind the rock and I have noticed how much birds love landing in that to look around before coming down to the water. While shopping at a local home improvement store yesterday, I noticed trees were 50% off. Since I love my serviceberry bush, I purchased an autumn brilliance serviceberry tree and we planted that by the rock last night. I look forward to seeing it grow and become a highlight in the garden as well changing the planting area around it next spring.