A drop to drink

As our area’s drought continues, wildlife has trouble finding water sources. My garden offers several.

 

Birdbaths offer water in dry times

     Back in 1997, we sank a rectangular plastic fish pond in the lawn and edged it with bluestone. A pump oxygenates the water and circulates it through a biological filter. 

The pond in May

For several years I brought home young koi from the garden center to live in the pond, but they all disappeared in a year or two. Some were clearly pulled out and eaten, possibly by raccoons. Half-eaten bodies were left behind. Other fish just weren’t there the next spring.

Koi weren't making it to this size

     I decided I’d assassinated enough koi and stopped restocking. Now the pond just houses water plants, and I’ve switched to hosting tadpoles. It’s fun to see them grow into tiny frogs that like to sit on the stones beside the water, jumping in as footsteps approach. 

 

Frogs are fun, and they eat insects

    Meanwhile, the pond provides drinking water for wildlife ranging from birds to squirrels to our dog Lola, who likes to wade in and pull out floating plants. Birds perch on the netting that covers the pond in winter to keep falling leaves from settling on the bottom. In this way they can walk across the pond to drink, safe from heavier predators.
 

    I’m pleased that toads have taken up residence in the garden, because they’re prodigious insect eaters. Toads are actually a kind of frog, and they too need to start their life cycle as eggs and tadpoles in water, so the toads I’m seeing may have been born in the garden pond.

 

A well-camouflaged toad

 
     Specifically for birds, I maintain other water sources as well. There’s a stone birdbath at the base of a redbud in view of the kitchen windows. The basin kept falling off its pedestal until I built a brick base for it, fearing that some small animal would be crushed. A ceramic birdbath spends the summer under a nearby crabapple. Birds approach cautiously, perching on nearby branches before landing in the water and puffing out their feathers for a wash. 

 

Birds like water near trees or shrubs

  Hanging from a spruce branch at the side of the house is a water bottle with a perch for birds. This one allows them to drink without the danger of landing near the ground.

 

A safe perch for cautious birds

     In the hottest weather, I’ve also put a few inches of water in a child’s wading pool to allow Lola to cool her feet. I notice that birds regard this as another larger birdbath. With all this standing water, I have to be careful not to provide breeding ground for mosquitoes. I empty out the water every two days, and each month I drop Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis) into the pond. It’s a safe soil bacterium that kills mosquito larvae.

    Friends, I’ve decided to stop posting on a weekly schedule. I find I’m running out of subjects. I’ll continue posting occasionally when a topic comes to mind. If there’s something you’d like me to write about, please let me know. Thank you for being with me over the years!