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Water for the Summertime Babies

© Terrie Murray

In the last couple of weeks the number of fledglings in my backyard has increased dramatically, as has the consumption of seed at the feeders. Young scrub jays, identifiable by their gray heads, are trying to imitate the young Northern flickers, who have quickly mastered the art of getting suet from my upside-down (starling resistant) suet feeder. The jays aren't as adept at clinging upside-down as the woodpecker-family flickers are, so they don't understand why it doesn't seem to work as easily for them as it does for the flickers. The young flickers, for their part, seem to have taken to not only the suet feeder, but my in-window feeder as well. They're particularly fond of cracked corn and peanut chips, so I've stocked up in order to ensure that these lovely birds come often and go away happy.

The young jays are particularly exuberant bathers. They line up at the birdbath, which I've taken to filling twice a day, and they hop in and splash around with total abandon. They even sing while they bathe, in their own jay-like fashion. On days like today when it is especially hot, I activate my crude dripper system - - a gallon-sized jug of water hung from a branch above the birdbath. I've poked a hole in the bottom of the jug, and another one near the top, so that the water drips slowly into the birdbath. The chickadees and sparrows, in particular, love the dripping water, and come almost immediately when they hear the dripper in action. More sophisticated dripper systems are available at wild bird supply shops, and someday maybe I'll get one, but for now my jug-dripper works just fine.

And speaking of drippers, the resident bushtit family has taken to visiting the yard in the late afternoon, when I turn the soaker hose on the tomato plants. The hose sends up tiny spurts of water, just bushtit size, so they fly down to the lower rings of the tomato cages and take little bushtit showers each evening. In like fashion, the chickadees like to take tiny chickadee baths in the water-filled ant moats which hang above my hummingbird feeders.

Two thoughts cross my mind while I'm watching all of my summertime backyard visitors. Both are equally important. First, it gives me great pleasure to watch the birds as they wander through the grass looking for worms, and as they pick the bugs off of my tomato plants, and as they harvest tiny spiders from the rosemary bush. And I can indulge in that pleasure knowing that I've used no toxic chemicals, pesticides or herbicides in my yard, so there is absolutely nothing out there (at least that I'm responsible for) which is going to hurt them. Second, I've taken pains to make sure that all my yard visitors have fresh water available from two sources which I change at least daily, and sometimes twice a day if it is really hot. Even if you work during the day, you can do this in the morning and the evening. It's so critical at this time of year, when the temperatures rise and natural water sources start drying up. Don't waste water, there is precious little of it to go around, but do make sure that if you're inviting birds and wildlife into your backyard that you have fresh, clean water available all year round. They'll thank you, simply by the gift of their presence.

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