Did you enjoy playing in puddles when you were a child? I remember a childhood of rubber boots and yellow slickers and days when my pant legs would be drenched from walking through puddles. Even now, I’ll occasionally kick my feet through a puddle of water and then glance quickly all around, hoping that nobody has seen me give in to my child-like impulses.
When I spotted this White-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) in a shallow puddle, I thought he was merely getting a drink of water. However, he stuck his head in the water, splashed around, and seemed to be having a good time. Perhaps he was taking a bath, or maybe he was simply enjoying himself in the cool waters. (In case you are curious about the background, the puddle had formed in a low area adjacent to a speed bump at the entrance to the parking area of my local marsh park—the yellow you can see is the safety paint of the speed bump itself.)
Initially, I was unsure that this sparrow was a White-throated, because the white patch was not really obvious and the eye stripes were not as well defined as in previous photos that I have posted of this species. The yellow coloration above the lore (the area between the eye and the bill) makes it pretty likely that this is a White-throated sparrow, though it may be the brown and tan striped variant, rather than the black and white one that I featured in a posting earlier this week.
I don’t know about you, but I feel inspired to find a puddle to play in today. Have a wonderful Friday.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Seeing a bird splashing in a puddle makes me grin from ear to ear. I loved playing in puddles as a child, too. One time there was a great rain storm which left deep puddles everywhere. I actually went a step further and swam in the puddles. Needless to say, my mom wasn’t too happy when I came home dripping wet from head to toe.
Somehow life seemed so much simpler as a child–so easy to find joy in small things. I am glad you liked the photo.
Reblogged this on LUKE FARMER.
Great shot, nothing better as a kid tham playing in puddles..:-)
So sweet, such a lovely shot !
He looks like a happy little bird! I never would have known that was paint in the background. It could be bright sunshine on wet sand. Or maybe it’s just my color blindness thinking that.
Thanks. I tried to shoot from such a low angle that it would not be obvious that the yellow color was painted asphalt. Plus it was a little out of focus too. I guess one of the reasons why I mentioned it was to let folks know that nature is all around us, even in more urban settings.