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Yesterday I saw a ruby-crowned kinglet. I saw him bathing himself in the fountain and at first was confused by what I was seeing. In my backyard at least, kinglets are fairly rare. And they fall into the uncanny valley of bird identification for me. They’re roughly the same size as a chickadee, but the wrong color. And slightly rounder than a finch but somewhat similar in color at a glance. In short, I find them hard to identify unless I can get a close look at them with the binoculars.

And yesterday, I was able to do just that. I watched this little bird, with his hidden red crest on the top of his head, ruffle his feathers and take a bath. I always feel so lucky to have this fountain. The birds love it and I see migratory warblers and chickadees and finches and all other sorts of birds simply because I have a little bit of running water in my backyard.

But I am thankful for it. I love watching the birds come and go through the fountain, taking shelter in the somewhat unruly bushes behind the water. I love knowing that in the morning, when I look out the window, I will see a group of birds just waiting to splash around.

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