Mandarins

When I checked a pond where I went fishing as a little boy I spotted a Mandarin Duck.
That was a few weeks ago now and the number of Mandarins rose to 4, 3 males and 1 female, the 3 males try hard to impress the female but she doesn't seem to notice.
Yesterday I could make some pictures just before sunset, the colours are amazing in that light!

^The Mandarin spooked the hell out of the Coot by doing that, the Coot didn't know where to hide after this incident

Cold shower

A few years a young Blackbird drowned in our pond in the back yard, ever since then we have 4 bricks forming somekind of staircase in the pond.
From time to time Blackbirds (and sometimes Hedge Accentors) use the bricks as a bath.

When I got back home today I saw a female Blackbird in the backyard, I immediately took out my camera and waited.
After a few minutes the Blackbird started taking a bath, the complete bath lasted for about 30 minutes and you could see the bird enjoying it!