Actually, it’s not that hard, except…..
Well, the first thing we did was to buy a heated dog water dish at a pet store. We filled it with water, added a couple of rocks to make it shallower for the birds, and plugged it into an outdoor outlet.
It did a wonderful job of keeping the water from freezing, even on the coldest days. We did get a few birds visiting for water. And when we got colorful birds, we felt fortunate to get photos and videos. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that often.
After several years of doing this, Jan began wondering why so few birds took advantage of the easily-accessible water. She decided to get more creative and redecorate. We wanted more birds to visit the winter “spa” so we could get better and more natural-looking winter water photos. She was right — the number of birds visiting the bird water-station increased dramatically. This is what Jan did.
She kept the same heated water dish and, after adjusting the set-up a little, she added things we collected from our nearby natural areas, mainly pieces of loose bark and rocks which hold the bark in place. First, Jan placed some anti-slip material, like that used to keep loose rugs from sliding on smooth floors, on top of the stump. She wanted to keep the next layer, a smooth flat piece of wood just a bit bigger than the dish, from moving or sliding.
The heated dog dish went on top of the wooden platform. It was partly filled with different levels of rocks so there is room for the water as well as good footing and good water access for the birds no matter what the level of the water is. The next step was to decorate. We are “Nature” people, and enjoy pretty much everything in nature, sooo…, thinking about the birds’ normal habitat, we chose rocks from streams and bark fallen from dead trees.
The goal was not to hide the dog dish and its color, but rather to make the set-up more welcoming for the birds. Having the rough bark and stones around the top of the dish seemed to be just what the birds had been wanting….a natural-looking place with familiar footing for them to land and hang out.
On rare occasions we have had very high winds and some of the rocks and bark were blown off. Sometimes they were dislodged by squirrels who were startled to see us watching as they took a drink. No problem. It just gives us an opportunity to redecorate. And, with a pile of bark and rocks on the ground around the base, it only takes less than a minute.
Now our bird water-station is more appealing to us, and, my goodness, the birds absolutely love it. The biggest difference is that instead of having one bird at a time every now and then, we very often have several on a regular basis. The only regular maintenance we do is adding water from time to time and make sure the birds remain healthy by cleaning the dish occasionally. Cleaning is easy if using the dog dish as compared to cleaning a birdbath attached to a stand. We keep extra bark pieces and rocks on the ground nearby for when the rocks need cleaned. The bark can be easily discarded and replaced.
On those cold, wintry days, when most of the usual water sources in our neighborhood are ice-covered, our birds have a reliable source of unfrozen water.
For many years, during the cold weather months, our bird feeders have provided Jan and me with great enjoyment.
Now, on some days, our bird water-station can be just as entertaining as the feeders.
On warmer days many birds continue to be attracted to our winter weather bird water-station even though there are other unfrozen water sources available.
A little bit of creativity added an attractive, easily-usable source of water for the birds and a great deal of enjoyment for us.
Bill Beatty Nature 