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Make sure water is available
Amphibians
Here's a variation on our usual American Toad that appeared in our yard. According to Fred Schueler, director of the Bishops Mills Natural History Centre in Ontario, "It's a northern-looking American Toad. 300 km north of here it would be unexceptional, and I imagine there are places in the Adirondacks where it would also be unexceptional. Toads and many other species tend towards a more contrasting red/brown/white pattern to the north, to match the colour of the vegetation and to be more contrasting when they're viewed by predators in daylight."
Birdbaths
Until we built our pond, I maintained a traditional birdbath as well as a large clay flowerpot saucer that I put on the ground. It seemed that different birds preferred one or the other of these; both were used.
Keep birdbaths clean One important thing to remember is that you need to regularly clean birdbaths. I scrub mine with an old vegetable brush every one to three days, depending on how much they had been used. This is important for the birds' health, but also prevents mosquitoes from breeding. For me, it was easier and faster to fill a few gallon milk jugs in the kitchen than to use the hose. Depending on where your hose is in relation to the birdbath, this may or may not be easier for you, but the important thing is to develop a system so it's as easy as possible to keep your birdbaths clean.
Placement of birdbaths One factor to consider is that you need to locate your birdbaths where birds will feel safe using them. You may need to experiment with the distance between the birdbath and surrounding trees and bushes. They may feel safer when they're farther from trees or bushes since the bushes may harbor predators; being farther gives them a chance to get away. Generally, 10 to 12 feet from cover is the recommended distance. For the same reason, don't place your birdbath in the midst of lots of other plants since predators (most commonly, cats) easily hide in the vegetation. Birds don't easily come "up to speed" when their feathers are wet!
Dripping water attracts birds, so you can try using a dripper, either commercial or homemade. Before we had a pond and stream, I tried both. The homemade one was simply a milk jug with a very tiny hole in the bottom suspended over the birdbath. The commercial one required that the hose always be on and connected. Neither was completely satisfactory.
Remember that water is also important in winter and may not be as easy for your birds to find if you don't provide a source.
Mud
Note robin getting mud for her nest
Here's our "bog," which is connected to the stream. (The bog is the small area at the bottom of the screen and you can see the stream adjacent to it in the middle of the photo.) Although we initially added this mini-bog in order to grow some moisture-loving plants, it unexpectedly turned out to be more valuable as a source of mud. The robins especially have visited this area throughout the nesting season to collect mud to build their nests. Some bees also need mud to build their nests (see the photo of our bee house). When you think about it, how much of this essential nesting ingredient is available when suburbs consist mostly of asphalt and lawn?
Water
Our stream is very popular with birds. We designed it to be wide and shallow so that there would be lot of places for them to take a drink and to take a bath.
It attracts lots of birds - robins, goldfinches, catbirds, blue jays, mourning doves, and warblers (as well as house sparrows, European starlings and grackles, unfortunately).
This picture is taken from the middle waterfall looking down toward the pond.
For drinking
Just like us, wildlife needs water to drink.
Here's a goldfinch getting a drink standing on the rocky berm. This has been a useful part of our stream - a lot of birds seem to prefer standing on the little stones to get a drink rather than standing in the water itself.
And not just for birds ...
For bathing
Just like us, wildlife needs water in which to bathe. There are different sections of the stream of different depths and rate of moving water. Some types of birds prefer one area to another, but it's always busy!
Here's a sharp-shinned hawk taking a bath in the uppermost section of the stream, and he took a very long, very leisurely bath - at least five minutes. He definitely had the stream to himself!
Here's a blue jay's bath experience in the lower part of the stream:
Here's a robin in the upper part of the stream:
Here are some pictures of a song sparrow enjoying his bath in our Wildlife Pond.
I love the joy he seems to find in his bath!
In winter
We provide water in the winter by using this heating coil designed for birdbaths. (We have an outdoor rated extension cord and a GFI outlet for safety.)
Pond wildlife
You see different kinds of wildlife in a pond. Some of the most fascinating are insects!
Water strider I have lots of these. I really like these walking-on-water insects.
Female common green darner Although it's shown on monarda in my garden, it was attracted by the pond. This picture doesn't do it justice - it's quite large and even more attractive in real life.
