Carolina Wild Photo (the blog)

Yep, that’s what I said, a “heated” birdbath. It’s really not that fancy, but it was designed specifically for bird photography, like the Bluebird image here.

The heating comes from an aquarium heater unit placed in the birdbath reservoir next to the fountain pump that continually circulates the water. It hardly makes it a “spa”, but it does keep the water from freezing in the winter. So far it has worked at least down to 5 degrees overnight, and even when it’s below freezing continually, every day for over two weeks in a row, with snow and sleet.

But this isn’t so much about the birdbath as it is about the birds. Because this water source is reliable in any weather, the birds come for the water, whether or not they frequent my feeders. The bath is situated just outside a bathroom window. I made a shelf that attaches to the window frame to hold a beanbag. This makes it easy to use my 100-400mm zoom and 500mm lenses for the birds coming to the bath and nearby feeders. And summer or winter, hot or cold, I can work from indoors. With the bathroom door closed, it has little effect on the house heating or cooling when the window is open for shooting.

All the photos in this post were taken at the birdbath within a few days of this December posting. Though I have dried meal worms out for the Bluebirds, and Sunflower seeds for the Titmouse, there was nothing for the berry eating Cedar Waxwings. I don’t know what they were eating, but these exotic migratory visitors returned to my birdbath for water 3 or 4 times on the day they came through. Such is the lure of a good birdbath. And in winter during freezing weather, a reliable source of fresh running water is not only an irresistable draw, but also an important resource for all birds. I live within 500 feet of a small pond and a small lake, which can freeze over in winter, but my birdbath does not. The birds here rely on it.

What’s that? Oh, you say you don’t see any birdbath. Well, of course not. I designed it for photography, and I much prefer natural perches to plastic feeders and actual birdbaths. I take my shots while the birds are perched on the branches attached to the birdbath stand, not while sitting on the birdbath itself. It isn’t even very interesting lookng actually – just a couple of large flowerpot bases above a large PVC plastic tray for mixing mortar that serves as a reservoir.

I found this old cell phone photo, at right, showing the heated birdbath in the clutches of winter, covered in ice and snow. Obviously the Bluebird is happy to see fresh running water, as the local ponds and lake were frozen over. The boxed-in base is the main reservoir with the fountain pump and heater that keeps things flowing, pumping into the upper deep dish, and cascading down into the lower shallow dish, then from the shallow dish down into the reservoir base. The perches attached to the base are cedar branches and cedar sapling roots turned upside down. The pump and heater in the base plug into an outside electrical outlet via an extension cord. The pump runs 24-7, while the aquarium heater is only plugged in during the coldest winter months. It does require occasional maintenance and cleaning, and checking of the water level in the reservoir. But it’s little to ask in return for having birds brought right to my window all year long. So long as I keep getting close-up photos like these, it’s certainly worth the effort.

It is my intent to post several installments of “Around My Heated Birdbath” during the winter. If I don’t have interesting visitors or good enough light for photography, I will instead feature some of my favorite photos previously taken around the birdbath. Either way, I hope you will come check out these posts to cheer up dull dreary winter days.