Where are your birdies bathing? Hmm?

July 21, 2012 at 8:08 pm (culture, environment, exploring interconnectedness, humor, life, music, play, random)
Tags: "Water", baths, beach, birds, culture, environment, heat, how to, humor, life, music, nature, picnic table, plastic dish, play, random, trees, VAbirdwatcher, video

Hey the heat is on and your local wildlife is feeling it big time.  It’s easy to offer your neighborhood birds some relief that does not entail opening the doors and windows of your home to the great outdoors to invite our fine feathered friends inside for some air conditioning.  Create a little bird beach with whatever you’ve got on hand that holds water, is no more than three inches high and which is fairly durable to avoid breakage.  I simply put to use an old children’s plastic picnic table for a level steady base and set on it a durable 20 inch round plastic dish that is about 3 inches high. By placing this all under or near some trees or bushes allows the birds to scan for predators before indulging in drinking and bathing.  The plastic dish is easy to clean out every day with a rinse and scrub before refilling with fresh clean water.  My local wingers seem to enjoy loitering on the lower picnic bench seats and extra table space. Hence, my calling it a “bird beach.” Yes, the squirrels like it too. But they’ve not chewed on it or hauled it off.  Nor have I witnessed any squirrels mugging any birds.  Everyone seems very polite and patient waiting their turns in the branches of the dead pine tree nearby. O yes, they do seem to keep their own sense of order out there where it’s hot even under the trees.

The orange plastic container featured in this video shows how simple it can be offer birds the water they need to survive. A bird bath does not need to be expensive or fancy. It just needs “to be” in order to offer some life-sustaining water. Please share your bird bathing creations at will.

Thanks to VAbirdwatcher for posting this video complete with music on youtube.