Water, Water Everywhere, Nor' Any Drop to Drink

With this next winter storm heading our way, which will drop the daytime temperatures a good 30 degrees overnight, I look out the window at the birdbath and wish I could do more to keep it liquid.

I've heard the squirrels gnawing at the ice. At first, I didn't know what that rasping sound was. Then I happened to glance outside when it was going on and saw this little guy chewing on the chunk in the birdbath. They and the birds, have come to rely on this for bathing and for fresh drinking water.

Over the weekend, it was liquid.

But, by tomorrow morning, it will be a hard sheet again.

Ideally, I should have a heater. There are a number of reasonably inexpensive birdbath heaters which will keep the water liquid. I don't have an exterior outlet on this side of the house. I was hopeful the dark color of the birdbath would absorb what little heat is available during the day and release it to liquify at least the edges of the ice sheet. It hasn't happened.

Perhaps, when I have electrical work done on the house this winter, I can look into an exterior outlet and then look into a heater. I feel badly for the wildlife that likes my little spot on the deck. I've thought of trying to dump out the ice chunk and adding a small amount of fresh water on a daily or every other day basis. It would be interesting to use this as an experiment into how fast certain temperatures of water freeze. I like experiments like that.

Beverage:  Lady Gray tea

Deb