Birds and water

Birds are a funny lot with water! If it's a new water station , they're dead suspicious and will watch to see if it stays and is filled, keep at it! Mine will bath in the tiniest little water to t and drink ,nearly toppling into a large sunken container, they're hilarious to watch. I'm sure your little bride will venture soon?????

We have several shallow bowls dotted around the garden, they have been there for years, always topped up. We have a bird bath, also been there for years, always topped up with clean water.

I haven’t seen one bird use any of them this summer, hedgehogs come out at night though and have a snuffle around. So hopefully some wild life is getting the benefit.

I have put a larger, shallow 50cms plant saucer on top of my bird bath. The birds come early in the morning, 7 am for a splash. 15 this morning. It’s located near a hedge, so that they can take cover if spooked.

I have many sparrows use my birdbath sometimes as many as five will be in there flapping about and occasionally I will get a blackbird in there as well. I make sure I change the water daily

What lovely pics SynchroSwimmer

The other pic was to show birds at the birdbath…though the bath is hardly visible…

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202208/medium-308491-7a219c89-89bb-4288-ba6d-60ac1e7c5cdb.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202208/medium-865277-dce12bfb-cc73-4e64-a20c-6b84a2974583.jpeg

I remember Bill Oddie in 1983 suggesting if we do one thing, just put some water out for the birds - have been happily following his advice since with lovely results…

Chuffed that I had a homing pigeon staying with me the past 10 days, got blown off course and she finally made it home to her owner 2 days ago. Only 5 months old, born this year, how amazing ?

I've a shallow bowl out, but I'm still waiting on the birds too. I put some bowls out at the top of my drive for passing dogs. I don't know why some take dogs out in the middle of the day in this heat anyway. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the birds arriving.

Birds in general tend to hide away in August as they develop their new feathers, so early morning and evening are the best times to spot them.

Pigeons are a pain in our bird bath too - an oily film and a hearty dollop of poo left as a thank you. Luckily our bird bath isn't very big so doesn't take a minute to wash and refill.

We have bird flu locally so need to be extra scrupulous about cleaning every day anyway, and feeders have been put away for now.

I also have several shallow trays around the garden filled with stones and water for insects. The little birds like these in the evening too.

Ah right, so I thought that a washing up bowl would be ok because my sister is using the same and she has better luck! I’ve just found another plastic bowl that can be collapsed down so I’ll try that and also see if I’ve got a shallow plant dish as well. Thanks again.

I have two small shallow cat trays with a big stone in the middle of each one. One in the front garden, one in the back. We love watching the blackbirds who have a good wash in it and I agree with other posts that birds do take a few days to suss it out and decide it is safe. We also have a lot of huge pigeons which are not our favourite I must admit but they need water too so we are happy to provide it, even though I have to clean the trays every day as they poo in it. !

Gorgeous picture RP1-

To all grans and granps out there who are doing their bit to help birds, hedgiehogs and wildlife in these difficult times - thank you. Keep up the good work.

We have the same thing Zoejory! Bird bath ignored and the birds queueing up at the hedgehog bowls.

Beechnut

Is it shallow. I have a bird bath (pigeon sat on the edge at the moment) and I saw a bird drink from it yesterday then go and land on some very dry dirt and flap his wings about in it.

The pigeons come to drink from the bird bath, then turn around and use it for a toilet, spoiling it for the smaller birds.

DanniRae

I have an old shallow dish full of water for the birds. It amuses me that they not only bath in it but drink it too! I love watching them use it and agree that a washing up bowl is too deep and they wouldn't feel safe using it.

If you put out anything deep, place a brick or rock in a corner so anything that falls in can crawl out again!

We have 4 or 5 hedgehogs and we leave bowls of water out for them. I have hanging water dishes for the birds but they never seem to bother.

However we've caught them drinking and splashing in the hedgehog's dishes

We’ve got a shallow water dish in our rear garden next to a border & an old deep “fat balls” plastic tub in the front with 3 house bricks stacked in it to give a central landing area - they’re both really popular.
Funnily enough our birdseed and fatball feeders at the front empty completely within a couple of days with the sparrows noisily clamouring in a queue in the surrounding branches waiting for a space to open up, but the feeders at the back barely get pecked at!! You’d think they’d have learned to flit round the house but they haven’t, lol
And the feeder attached to my kitchen window had a chaffinch land on it first day, but not seen another on it in the 2 months since???

I have an old shallow dish full of water for the birds. It amuses me that they not only bath in it but drink it too! I love watching them use it and agree that a washing up bowl is too deep and they wouldn't feel safe using it.

I agree, an old washing up bowl is too deep and sinking it into the ground may work, perhaps placing some stones around the edge. We have a bird bath on a pedestal which is used frequently, pigeons really seem to like to lay in the water with their wings outstretched in the hot weather (as well as splashing about). We have to refill it often.

Try placing the bowl near to "safety"; this could be a hedge, fencing, bushes, a verdant flower bed, or low hanging trees, etc. This definitely is important with our birdbath.

I agree DiamondLily - if it's all you have Sunnysideup try burying it up to the rim and fill it most of the way with stones. You could leave one end a bit deeper but give a shallow end so anything can climb out if necessary. If it's on the ground hedgehogs may use it.

They will come. There is nothing so lovely as watching birds having a bath. ( Younger me would be shaking my head at this post)

I put out a shallow very large pie/stew dish, that I no longer use, and the birds, the squirrels and the foxes have been using it.

To drink and bathe in. I refill it twice a day.

It's parched down South and the wildlife are really suffering. ?

I think a washing up bowl will be far too deep! We use large plant pot holders. These sometimes have to be filled twice a day if the blackbirds decide to have a bath. So we bought a chicken drinker thing just for drinking. We dis try an old washing up bowl, and even with just an inch or so of water it wasn’t used, probably because birds couldn’t see out!
Final point is to keep them scrupulously clean. The wood pigeons delight in pooping in them

You may just have to wait. They will come. It’s a lovely thing to do. They often bath in the bowl too.