Robin in the Bath

As you have perhaps seen in yesterdays post, we have two bird baths in the back yard. The smaller one is on a pedestal at the far end of the yard. There is a larger one nearer to ground level a little closer to the deck.

For their own curious reasons, the robins tend to prefer the smaller, shallower, and farther bath.

I sat poised with camera on the deck, and in a little while, a robin came and splashed around, quite vigorously at times.

My long zoom was fully extended in most cases, but the photos came out relatively clear. I was shooting at 1/400 second, but it still should have been faster to catch the flapping the wings more clearly.

After two separate sessions with multiple dunks and flaps each time, the wee birdie was finally satisfied with its ablutions and flew to the fence to fuss and preen.

I took over 100 photos, mostly holding down the shutter button and firing off multiple shots, hoping to get a few peak action ones. Many were of the bird just standing there between dunks. The ones in the bath, especially, were in shadow, which took some editing to brighten sufficiently. Finally, I applied a glow filter, which I usually tend to use in moderation if at all, but I applied it a little more heavily this time, and I think it helped to really lift the images.