Backyard Birder

Windy Day

I have a Water Wiggler that I bought at the same time as the birdbath. It says that the batteries (two "D" size), should last two months. I thought I could live with that, but when I installed the batteries, I had to use a screwdriver to take it apart. The screw is plastic and I wondered how many times I could change the batteries until that stripped out. Also, the water is very shallow in the center, I think because of the built in heater. If I place the Wiggler in the center, the water level has to be almost full in order for the wiggler to disturb it. Sure, I could place the Wiggler off center, but I thought it best to look for alternatives.

I replaced the Wiggler with a Duncraft Solar Fountain Pump Kit. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see it, because by the time I get home from work there is too little daylight. I noticed each night that the water level was much lower, so I suspected that the stream was shooting out over the side. Yesterday was Saturday, and I had a chance to view the fountain. As I guessed, the wind was blowing the stream out of the bath. I tried a different fountain head, and that helped, but it still went over the side. I removed the head altogether and added an extension. The display was less that spectacular, but it keeps the water in the bath. I wish I could find a compromise, but that will have to do for now.

Today was cold and windy, and for some reason, this brought the birds to my feeders. I saw goldfinch, the male and female cardinals, along with the usual house sparrows and house finch. I had a video of the female cardinal, and today I made one of the male. See it here. Edit- The video did not play, thanks to Skip for the heads up! I still did not get a pic of the downys, although I did try!

I started a picasa web site. I hope to upload the pictures that did not make it into the blog.