Keeping/cleaning a bird bath
DebbyO
19 years ago
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dgo1223
19 years agoianna
19 years agoRelated Discussions
Bird-Bath Cleaning 101
Comments (3)Recalling high school chemistry and the chapters about acids, alkalies and potential of hydrogen (PH). I'd clean it with plain white vinegar and water. About a 1 to 1 mix. Let the liquid set for an hour or so, then scrub with a stiff brush or 3M scrubber. You could add a cup of vinegar to the fresh water when you fill the bird bath. The acidity of the vinegar will lower the PH of the water and help keep the alkaline mineral deposits down. The birds will never notice. BTW I have a ground level bird bath and my problem is an algae like slime. I normally just hit it with the hose to blow out all the "solids" and refill with fresh water. However, I clean it once or twice a summer with a little beach in water and then let it set out in the full sun to dry for a day. But, it gets used a lot and it seems to slime up very fast....See MoreAnyone here use a bird bath heater? (or heated bird bath)
Comments (13)Scully, yep - we are a bit warmer here, but it's the overnight hard freezes that crack birdbath basins. On cold winter days, if I notice an ice skim forming, I'll add warm water too, but if I'm gone for the day the risk of freezeover escalates. The heater works 24/7. We've had a warm fall too, but if the Old Farmers Almanac is right, once it gets here, we're in for it this winter. Btw - Everytime I open this thread I get a mental picture of Woodstock ice skating on the birdbath - brings a smile to my face ....... thanks! Another little aside is that in the heat of summer, I take a pitcher full of ice cubes out to the birdbath - the flapping about definitely increases when I cool it down! :o) Love my birds!...See MoreKeeping Birds Happy in the Cold Months for City Folk
Comments (8)I'm sorry for not getting back to this sooner, but have been reading responses, while I continued to undo and redo my garden. (Undo = trashing diseased plants, cleaning and bringing in the terra-cotta and decor, gathering the last of the tomatoes for eiither pickling or letting them grow red in cardboard boxes, protecting borderline periennials, cooking and then tossing cream of celery soup - parcel is a bit overpowering - yuck, gathering some plants for composting, etc. Redo = bringing in the herbs and tropical succulents for my attempt at overwintering them, plus bringing in the lettuce and broccoli onto the unheated front porch.) Still not completely done, but the freezing temps have arrived, so not as big a hurry now. It was just too late in the season to plant new shrubs and/or trees, and, with a 16 foot squared yard, even one small tree means, at best, half the yard would be filled with it, considering trees or bushes generally grow as wide as they do tall. It's hard enough to figure out how to fit just the minimum of what I want to grow - considering we both like flowers, herbs, and vegetables from our garden. (The pumpkins were happy accidents, never to be done again -- I hope. LOL) Also, I'm not keeping birds alive to watch a wide variety of them eat my offerings. I can't even see outback from our too high window and I'm in Philly. Our bird population consist of sparrows, starlings, pigeons, and on a rare occasion, robins. I did meet a man, who used to live down the street, who actually had hummingbirds come to his yard (thus the references to several plants hmmingbirds would love), but haven't seen any myelf. My hubby worked at a base with lots of warehousing half a mile from here, and discovered a peregrin falcon was feasting on the pigeons in pme pf the wharehouses, but those birds require accommadations I simply cannot supply (unless I work towards attracting pigeons and rats. LOL) Since most of my life has been in the burbs or country, I do know most of the birds everyone mentione, they just aren't city dwellers. I haven't even seen a chickadee or wren here. I've also only seen a couple of pinecones, including neightbors' Christmas decorations, in the 16 years I've lived here. You'd think a state named "Penn's forest" would plant some pine trees, or leave some around and plant around them, but if they did either, not many have lasted in this city. I did check out the British site linked, which gave me some added ideas, if I run out of regular bird food (cereal with dried fruit in it -- my favorite, too), but kinda hard to figure out the differences in weather for them, since they're more like Seattle cold, not Philly cold. Since my other passion in life is teddy bears, I've come to know some from the UK, and saw pictures of them snowboarding last winter, and I know they brought out their marigolds before we did, so it gives a rough idea of the mild differences. My bears now want to make the birds some grapevine wreathes with dried fruit and millet for them. Not sure how to leave vegetation around for bugs to congregate, since they are usually busy in the bottom of my compost bins (5-gallon plastic buckets and a large plastic trash can all with a bunch of holes in the lower sides and bottoms for easy access for the needed bugs), but will hope the vegetation still left out there will be kind enough to make those piles as they fall apart during the winter. I just hope most of it goes into the containers, so it doesn't end up clogging our drain during rain and snowstorms. (I also hope I don't see the amount of bugs I found last spring in one bin. Folks with bug phobias just shouldn't compost. LOL) Have discovered they do not like sweet peppers or green tomatoes -- not even the squirrels went for them -- but am hoping for our Indian Summer, so a few maggots might pop out of what is left over, since I now know birds need bugs! Thanks for all the ideas and links. I will be asking neighbors for pine boughs and trees after Christmas. Worse comes to worse, they should add some protection from severe storms in the worst of winter for my feathery friends....See MoreHow to Keep Birds off Patio Furniture?
Comments (6)Sounds like your neighbor might be using tray feeders so the Mourning Doves have been multiplying like crazy. The only bold Robin-sized bird I know with a speckled breast is a Brown Thrasher, but they are shy of people. Note long tail, light wing bars, reddish coloring, yellow eyes From 7-24-08, Birds and mammals on Poppy Mnt From 8-1-17, 2008, Birds at Hanlon Farm There are also Wood Thrushes, but those are woodland birds and very shy. Note round breast spots, white eye ring, short tail, brown color From 4-27-09 Other than trying to persuade your neighbors to switch to thistle tube feeders (why I'm SO glad there are no "bird lovers" living in our area to throw out cheap food and attract trash birds) you might try those new motion detector fake Great Horned Owls I've seen advertised. Here's the lowest price I can see http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Gardener-8021-Defense-Electronic/dp/B000FJRSOW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1245161400&sr=8-1...See Morebloominweeds
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