I saw the female last Sat. and you'll Id'd her for me , yesterday i saw the male, gorgeous little guy, but never got out of the bush or stood still long enough for a good picture they were both at the running hose, I have 6 birdbaths around my house, but are birds attracted more to running water? or would running water attract more birds? I've already started looking into it, as if I needed more work.



noemi
south texas

I have no question in my mind that running water is the ticket! I already had 2 birdbaths, 1 mister and this spring I added a waterfall feature...okay, not really a waterfall feature but a water pump system that simulates a waterfall over a rock feature since my back injury prevented my actually building the real thing... But I have to say, the mister and waterfall get way more birds than the birdbaths - vireos, warblers, tanagers, grosbeak, oriole, hummingbirds, waxwings, even some flycatchers! I even had some flickers try to get in there but it's too small for the bigger birds - that's a project for next year... Good luck!



Ruth
Everett, WA
Zone 8

Hello, Ruth!


I love water features. Can you describe how you set up your mister and post a picture of your waterfall feature?

gayla

Gayla
Jackson, Mississippi
Canon XSi and S3 IS
Zone 7b; Heat Zone 9 (Ugh)

Hi Gayla, I will post a couple of pictures in a bit, but like I said, my "set up" is really lacking asthetically, so don't expect it to look like something in Martha Stewart's garden! LOL

Ruth
Everett, WA
Zone 8

Ruth,

The important thing is that it WORKS!

Gayla
Jackson, Mississippi
Canon XSi and S3 IS
Zone 7b; Heat Zone 9 (Ugh)

Okay here we go Gayla, and remember, it's nothing pretty but it does work ...This is a mister that I got from WBU last year. I attached it to a small birdbath:
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

And the waterfall is just a small terrarium kit pump that I set in a 5 gallon tank. Behind the waterfeature is a bench with this year's hummingbird plants(since I injured my back I didn't even get them in the garden) I stacked a couple of rocks to make a small platform. I have been collecting rocks for this project for several years because I do hope to set up a real waterfall/pond feature. I will hopefully be able to enlist the help of my 2 boys because I'm apparently getting too old for all that heavy lifting and digging...
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

A couple of branches give the birds a place to sit while they wait for their turn:



By the way Gayla, what do you do to prevent freezing during the winter? That's the only thing I am worried about, last winter we had some heavy duty freezing and snow, I know that winter is an important time to offer water but I may just have to invest in a heater for the other bigger birdbath.






Ruth
Everett, WA
Zone 8

Spectacular results, Ruth! I am so envious.

I have the same mister from WBU. I have been unsure the best way to use it. I have had it misting on leaves of a bush in a pot that I placed next to the birdbath. It looks like you are misting the bird bath itself. How far away would you say the mister is from the bird bath????

I would have a joyous fit if I ever had a hummingbird in my water feature. Congrats on that!

I wish I could say winter was a problem here. Every 5 or 6 years there might be snowflakes, and every news crew in town is out taping the event. They rarely stick. We might get into the twenties for a short while, but it doesn't seem to bother my birdbaths. The woman at the bird store did say the misters and drippers should come in when it freezes though. I do have a bird bath heater, but have not had a reason to use it yet.

Thanks for posting the photos.

gayla

Gayla
Jackson, Mississippi
Canon XSi and S3 IS
Zone 7b; Heat Zone 9 (Ugh)

...Doh, I should have realized you would have no need for a birdbath heater Gayla... And yes, I have the mister set to drip over the little birdbath, roughly about 1 to 1/2 feet above. I have no scientific data to prove this but I noticed the sound of the water dripping into the birdbath is what seemed to get their attention. The other thing is that silly cheap birdbath keeps tipping over when it becomes overfilled and so another stream of water drips into a flower pot underneath. Thanks also for the reminder to take the features down when it starts getting really cold(which I hope doesn't happen this winter!)


Ruth
Everett, WA
Zone 8

Ruth and all,

I have had drippers on my bird baths for years, and I have two waterfalls, one on the pond and one on the bird creek, so they are hearing and seeing a lot of moving water. Don't know why I'm not getting the results that others do. Sigh.

Ruth, at what temperature do you turn off the misters? Are the birds attracted to the mist even when it is cooler (in the 70's)?

Thanks,


Gayla
Jackson, Mississippi
Canon XSi and S3 IS
Zone 7b; Heat Zone 9 (Ugh)

Ruth,

I just noticed you are in Zone 8. I'm in Zone 7b, so I bet our weather, or at least our low temps are similar.

Gayla
Jackson, Mississippi
Canon XSi and S3 IS
Zone 7b; Heat Zone 9 (Ugh)

Hi Gayla, can you show me some pictures of your pond and waterfall set up? Also, I am curious what your backyard situation is(i.e. suburbs, city, country etc..) I have some ideas but some of your pictures might confirm what I am thinking.

That's funny, in my area, temps in the 70's are considered warm! LOL

Last year was the first year I set out that mister, I think I bought it in March or April, temps were probably in the 40's or 50's and I had to bring it indoors and shut off the outdoor water in November. Some winters we don't get really cold weather but last year was one of the coldest and certainly the most snow I can remember. I was able to keep the hummingbird feeders from freezing but I couldn't get to WBU to get a birdbath heater and I knew that the poor birds were missing the fresh water.

I am also sorry for the late response here by the way, I just got back home tonight. Tomorrow I will start a new thread for us okay?

And sorry to Noemi, for the hijack...



Ruth
Everett, WA
Zone 8