...and I can't actually show you but I can tell! See this birdbath fountain below? Yes, I know it's a crummy photo but iPhones aren't great at at zooming in. Notice where the chickadee is - that's the bubbler that brings the water up through the fountain. A lot of birds prefer to drink right from the bubbler but they bathe in one of the bowls below it.
Today I was sitting on the back porch frittering the afternoon away when I glanced up and happened to notice what I thought was a really large bumblebee in the bubbler. At second glance I was astonished to see it was a female Broad-tailed hummingbird. Taking a bath. In the bubbler. Whooee! How clever of her - just her size, too. I was too awestruck to remember to grab my iPhone, and when I did I was seconds too late. Bath over. Here she is a few minutes later getting all sticky again at the Black and blue salvia. Another bad I-photo.
I get hummers daily at this time of year and I'd never seen one even get close to a water source, much less take a bubbler bath. I guess they get plenty of liquid to drink from the flower nectar but their little bodies must get sticky from it too. I wonder if they would like the mister? I think I'll set it up and find out.
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