That was… a year. But one recipe helped me through it: Just Add Water.
With the exception of a few weeks in November when it looked like things were getting a little better (before they weren’t) I’ve been working from home since the first day of San Francisco’s shutdown in March. We’ve lived in this home for 17+ years, but this is the most time I’ve ever spent here — and far and away, the most daylight hours. Turns out, birds like the place.
Our yard had been rather neglected the last few years since I was rarely home by day. This year I’ve methodically cleared the overgrown grasses, knocked back invasives and planted more natives. It’s possible that the birds were always there and I just couldn’t see them in all the tall stuff, but I think they welcomed the slightly more open landscape and the variety of natural foods — both plants and insects.
But above all, they came for the water.
I had my digiscope set-up parked at the window and focused on the main bath, ready to grab a shot of anyone who showed up. And show up they did.
I haven’t offered food for a while due to a persistent neighborhood cat. (The feeder you see in the photo above has not been filled in years, but it serves to get birds’ attention.) I’ve had two birdbaths for a while, but during the neglect years they would go unfilled for days or weeks at a time. The baths were the first thing to benefit from this year’s backyard rehab — a good scrubbing and a quick fill, and we’re good to go.
Feeders are good attractants, but many birds aren’t seed eaters (warblers, flycatchers, thrushes, et al). Or birds want specific — and sometimes expensive! — foods (suet, nectar, fruit). On the other hand, everyone needs water, and it’s pretty close to free.
Not only is water cheap, the baths themselves don’t have to be expensive. I have a lovely concrete bath that I bought a few months after we moved in and it has acquired a nice patina of age. (It’s the one you see in most of these photos.) I added a second bath about 14 years ago that’s much simpler — a terra cotta plant saucer set atop a tomato cage. I planted some salvia at the base which gets watered by the splashing (and provides lots of hummingbird flowers!)
Though the birds do take drinks, they get much more use from having a spot to bathe. (I guess that’s why they call them bird baths and not bird troughs.) That said, during really hot weather, I do see a lot more stopping in to drink, so I make it a point to keep them topped off during heat waves.
Choosing just the right spot for the bath can make it much more welcoming for birds. Nearby cover is key — someplace they can easily flee to if a predator shows up. It also provides a place to perch while they wait their turn or preen afterward. I have three wrought iron trellises around the main birdbath to block the stupid cat from jumping up. A large wooden arch covered with grapevine on one side and a volunteer cherry tree on the other provide a waiting room. When I trimmed a long ceanothus branch a few months ago, I “planted” it next to the bath for and extra perch (and good photo op).
The salvia has fanned out from the salvia/tomato cage bath over the years, providing great protection from ground-based predators; the cat would have to make a leap from several feet away and it’s not quite nimble enough for that. The bath is situated on the other side of the grape trellis, with a magnolia and camellia providing cover/perching spots.
This year I added a new bath, again a sort of makeshift thing — another saucer, this one set on a short stand made to hold a pot or a chiminea. This one does not have any barriers around it, but because it’s low, it has good clear sightlines and birds can see a cat coming — no sneaking up from below. The ceanothus provides lots of cover above. The lower height seems to give it greater appeal to some of the ground feeders — doves, towhees, juncos and even a flicker.
I inadvertently added a fourth bath — a glazed saucer that had been sitting out after I moved the pot that had been sitting in it. It filled with water after some rain and the juncos immediately put it to use, so I’ve been keeping water in that one now, too. (You can see it along the fence at left in the photo of the yard.)
One advantage of multiple baths, especially at different heights, is that everyone gets a chance. When a jay shows up, everyone else scatters, mostly because they just fill the bath. With only one, the little guys have to wait until the big guy is done before they return. With three baths, they can head to another spot to splash. Varying heights and amounts of cover allows everyone to find their comfort zone.
Because birds are more vulnerable when they’re wet, you’ll often see them hanging out on the periphery and scanning for danger before they finally jump in. Often, they’ll make an initial splash, hop out, scan again, and then jump back for a full immersion experience. Maybe they expect that a predator might reveal itself during that first bit of vulnerability.
Once they’re out of the bath, they’ll usually perch nearby to to preen and dry. This is a great opportunity for both observation and photography. They’ll stay in one spot for a little longer than usual, and while they’re preening they’re moving a bit. They stretch their wings and fan their tails, revealing field marks that you’d normally only glimpse in flight. Because they’re going through a range of motions, photographers can get something more than “birdie on a stick” images.
Seems like growing feathers must be itchy or something — birds really love to bathe and soak when they are molting. For molt-obsessives like me, this is a total bonus. And it’s a public service for all the mom-birds out there. In the summer, I often see females just sitting in the bath, feathers out to the sides. It looks like they’re soothing their brood patches.
A quick gallery of some of the other visitors to the baths…
In a year that pretty much sucked, the birds soaked.
So what made a splash in your 2020?