Bird bath.

We had some much-needed rain during the second half of May. The ground was becoming very dry and was starting to crack, but the downpours swelled the soil and left some puddles in their wake.

A Robin took a few moments from the pressures of protecting and caring for his family to indulge in a bath. Bathing and preening help to keep a bird's feathers in good condition. Stopping the action with the camera shows how the bird contorts itself to get water to all the right places.

Also note the dull-eyed look of the nictitating membrane which blinks across the Robin's eye to protect it.

Robins are notoriously territorial, but a suitable bathing source will often attract lots of different species and an unspoken truce prevails.