Wednesday, September 5, 2012

BB in the BB

I love my "bird TV".  How delightful it is to sit on the sofa and look out the window at the antics of the birds (and other wildlife).

I admit, I don't always keep the bird bath cleaned and filled...I go in fits and spurts on that.  I filled it about a week ago, and then a week of hot, hot weather evaporated most of the water, and what was left had become quite slimy (algae?  bird schmezz?).  So, a couple days ago I schlepped the hose over to the bird bath and gave it a good scrubbing, after which I filled it right up with cool, clean water, and then headed off to water the shrubs and wildflowers I recently planted as part of my on-going effort to naturalize the landscape.

Soon the birds had found the newly watered plants and the clean bath.  They went to town.  Not only were there easily a dozen or two sparrows flitting around in the grass, but a family of bluebirds decided it was bath time.



And, just for laughs and giggles, here they are in action:



(The background sounds are either traffic on the road, Dr. Who on the computer behind me, or the dog.) 

It's amazing how just a small bit of water can bring so much life to a yard.  

8 comments:

  1. the Bird Channel ! better than anything on TV... great movie of the BBs !

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  2. You really know how to throw a party!

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  3. Our sprinkler was arching up into a sparsely-branched fir last Monday evening after a week of hot and dry. The tree was busy with birds, fluttering in the splash, preening, drinking. I saw species I've never seen at the feeder, and rarely there - red-breasted nuthatch and American redstart and more. That was exciting!

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  4. Water - it draws in birds like flies to dung. It's a beautiful thing. And providing water for your birds does not have to be an elaborate thing. Like yours, it could be a sprinkler, or like mine, just a dish of water. Dripping and movement will bring in birds faster, but even still water will work. How very exciting for you, Jane!

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  5. Nice birdbath. It's low enough that passing critters and small mammals can get a drink, too.

    Besides the usual suspects here in southwestern CT, I have a rufous sided towhee hanging around, along with something that I believe is either an eastern phoebe or eastern wood peewee.

    Care to make an educated guess for me? It's gray on top and whitish on the breast. The top of the head is a darker gray. About the size of a titmouse. What's most distinctive about it is that it is always hunting for insects in my yard and darting around and catching things in mid-air. I also see think the tail has a v notch..

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    1. Fern - when this bird perches, does it's tail bob up and down? If so, it's a phoebe, which is a type of flycatcher (which goes along with your comment that it darts about catching insects mid-air).

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  6. Cool! The only time I had a bunch of bluebirds at my birdbath (though they had a nest only a few yards away) was in the dead of winter! What a lovely site!

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