Riveting Bird Bath

The fascinating sight of birds cavorting and grooming while taking an elaborate bath riveted my attention recently.

One of these birds was our resident collared dove found mostly in farming areas, public parks and gardens.

Nearly 2,000 of them live in and around Al Warsan. It's not hard to understand why. The area is irrigated daily and has many water puddles which attract birds of different species. One evening I watched transfixed as hundreds of doves congregated on the poles supporting the pivot pipes overlooking one such temporary puddle.

Then, in a flurry of feathers, they flew down from their high perch, before heading straight to the pool, flapping their wings and splashing water on their back and chest.

Another evening, just before sunset, I saw dozens of common starling birds swoop down to a tiny temporary pool in the vicinity and dunk their wings in the water. Unlike the doves, these migratory birds seemed to be in a bit of hurry as they completed the bathing ritual in a matter of seconds. I reckon this tiny pool is a favourite of the birds here as nearly 60 starlings, 20 wagtails, 200 bank mynas, 15 common mynas and two streaked bayas take their daily evening baths here.