Getting Up Before the Sun

I have a long, long, l-o-n-g history of getting up before the sun. Given that I've made my living in the software industry for the last 20+ years, that makes me rather an odd duck. (Many software people stay up till long past midnight then drag their butts out of bed, pound down a highly-caffeinated soft drink or two, and get into the office in time to check e-mail and go to lunch.)

But all those folks who don't get up till 9 or 10 AM (or even later!) miss out on some of the coolest events of the day. (At least I think they're cool.) Take this morning as an example.

I sleep with my windows open whenever possible. I like the fresh air. I also like the sounds the birds make when they're waking up, bathing, fixing breakfast, ...  The Black Phoebes perch on wires or fence tops and call in quiet voices: fi-BEE, fi-BEE, fi-BEE. The male Mourning Doves periodically call: COOO-coo-coo-coo. The House Sparrows chirp-chirp-chirp. The Lesser Goldfinches whistle their disappointed sighs.

And all that is very soothing and peaceful for me. But the really cool part comes when I get up as the day is starting to get just light enough out to make out the birds in the yard. That's when the hummingbirds show up at the hanging bird bath for their morning ablutions. Usually there's just the one hummer at a time. It'll sit on the rim and repeatedly duck its head and bill into the water, letting the water cascade over its tiny shoulders and body, shaking and fluffing its feathers to let the water get into all the nooks and crannies. Between dips, it'll swing its bill to the left then the right to wipe the collected crud off on the side of the bath. 

Once the hummer decides that this process has gone as far as it can, the little thing will lift off from the edge and fly across the surface of the bath dragging its lower half through the water. After doing that a few times, it will go back and sit on the edge. But this time it will sit backward and swish its tail in the water. 

It's all quite amazing to watch because hummingbirds are too tiny to stand in the bath, dipping and wriggling and flinging water far and wide like their larger brethren.

This morning's extra-added interest was afforded by the fact that there were, not one, but three hummers out there vying for a position at the bath. The three were all jockying for position, trying to run each other off so they could each have first dibs at enjoying the Birdie Spa alone. 

One morning a few months (several months?) ago, I got up to find three hummers all enjoying the Spa at once. They each had staked out a quadrant and were going through their morning ablutions. The cherry-on-top for that day was that only two of the hummers were our ubiquitous Anna's Hummingbird. The third was one of the rusty-orange species such as Allen's or Rufous Hummingbird. Quite a sight!

I've never seen hummers use the bath at any other time of day. And, no, you're not going to see any photos of the morning ablutions. Bad light, bad angle, permanently scratched and cruddy glass to try to shoot through, etc all prohibit anything approaching a decent photo. Or even a crappy one.