Today, despite a meteorological warning of heavy rain, the sun is hammering down on us. It's 30 degrees centigrade in the
garden room even with the blinds down, window wide open, and doors ajar. I saw a magpie this morning trying, unsuccessfully, to drink from the
solar Pitcher which I bought a few weeks ago (even though there is a
bird water-dispenser hanging on the bird feeding station). I confess, I have squirted a very small amount of chlorine in the Pitcher as the water was quickly getting slimy. It's a rock and a hard place. You need sunshine for the solar water cascade to work, but that same sunshine causes the slime. So, I searched online for a bird bath but couldn't see one I liked that I would pay good money for. I thought and thought about how I could make my own, and did I have a bowl that was suitable. It's dangerous to entice birds to the deep bowl of a bird bath, so I wanted something shallow. It was while I was squirting the ferns that I have growing inside my home that I spotted a ceramic bowl, filled with pebbles, on top of which was a fern in its pot. It's been tucked into a corner for so long I had forgotten about it. Bingo. One home made bird bath made from a dark brown ceramic bowl, filled halfway with smooth round pebbles for the birds to stand on, and placed on top of a large upturned flower pot. I might look for a more aesthetically pleasing stand for it but for now it will do nicely.
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Home made bird bath of a ceramic container and smooth pebbles
set on an upturned flower pot |
The bowl is relatively light, even with the pebbles, so removal for cleaning is no problem.
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Home made bird bath of a ceramic container and smooth pebbles
set on an upturned flower pot |
