Saturday, July 23, 2011

It's Not Just Humans

This heat wave is not good for any animal or human. My girls will go as far as the back door's threshold, sniff the hot air, turn around and go back to the living room where it's much cooler than standing on the deck waiting for me to bring the recycling can to the back or unload my car. I know of one puppy who passed away due to heat stroke. It's just not good. But I never considered wild animals.

I was sitting at my computer and heard a commotion on the deck. There was a lot of chirping. I cautiously pulled back the window covering and a robin was in the birdbath while a male and female cardinal looked on. I can only assume they were chirping, "Hey, don't use up all the water."

Well, it occurred to me that birds need a source of fresh water for drinking just the same as any other animal on this planet does. I enjoy having the birdbath on the deck. Now that birds know it's there, they use it.

The thing I have to watch, though, is it can get gross. Here's the birdbath about mid-May. Birds have been using it and leaves have blown into it. It gets dirty and slimy. The good thing about spring is the amount of rain replenishes the bath so I don't have to do it. I do need to watch how the water looks. I dumped this out in the middle of a rainstorm and the rain filled it.

So, here we are in the middle of a heat wave. I realized that birds were depending upon this for bathing and probably drinking water. I cleaned it out and refilled it with fresh tap water. Yes, there are chemicals in the water; flouride, etc.; that make it fit for human consumption but which aren't necessarily the best for birds. But, I've been told those will evaporate out of the water when it's left like this.

After cleaning, the bath looked so much nicer. I wish I could take a photo of a bird enjoying it. I'm never fast enough.

It's a cloudy day today. We received a lot of rain overnight which would have replenished this bath a couple times over with rain water. Now the temps are slated to rise again. I'm sure it's appreciated, even if they can't tell me.

Beverage:  Orange Juice

Deb

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