I've seen birds (and cats, for that matter) sipping water out of them, but never seen a bird having a bath in them.
This morning, as I was sitting down with my morning coffee, a burst of movement outside caught my eye.
We have two birdbaths. One, a simple terracotta saucer seems to appeal to the ground feeders such as the doves, but this morning, a mockingbird was having a good old splash - water was going everywhere and I have no doubt it will need refilling again this morning!
Nearby is a small concrete birdbath which I usually just fill with birdseed. It's very shallow and difficult to keep water in, but this week it got rain in it so I hosed it out this morning and left some water in it. Within 10 minutes, a new visitor to the garden had come to check it out.
And, of course, we are still hosting a number of hummingbirds. It's been a joy to watch them and I can't believe how many we are seeing this year - I've never seen this many in my garden!
Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.
