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Nobby
Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 327 Location: Kenley Surrey UK

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Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 7:04 am Post subject: Bird bath waterfall |
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This year I decided to move my wildlife pond into my secret garden. In it's place I have now fitted a series of bird baths fed by a cast iron pump.
Bird bathPoster: Nobby, viewed 156 Time(s)
The pump stands over 4ft tall and empties into a leaking bucket that then cascades down into a bird bath. This in turn feeds two other bird baths of different depths. Each bird bath overflows over a layer of pebbles and then back down into the sump below that houses the electric pump.
The bird seem to love it, I have a couple of Jays that sit under the cascade from the bucket and use it as a shower.
I have uploaded a short clip to YouTube showing a pair of Black Caps bathing so you can see and hear it in action.
http://youtu.be/TiyJVgYplaQ _________________ http://www.brettoliver.org.uk/Nestbox/nest_box.htm |
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Strixaluco

Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 5464 Location: Mayford, Sy

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Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 8:53 am Post subject: |
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What an excellent idea - well done!  _________________ Elizabeth |
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minijoan
Joined: 06 Mar 2011 Posts: 297 Location: Northampton

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Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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Hi Nobby,
What a lovely idea. I only have a very small ground level bird bath and I fill it at least three times a day. After seeing your wonderful water garden I must get my thinking cap on and see what I can come up with for my garden.
Happy birthwatching.
Joan  |
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Strixaluco

Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 5464 Location: Mayford, Sy

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Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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We have a pond with a little "waterfall", which the birds love. Here is a photo talen 9 years ago, when it was very new - now everything is rather overgrown and the rocks are covered by a thick layer of moss! The water bubbles up in the top "pool" overflows into the next layers, then returns to the pond
Garen pondPoster: Strixaluco, viewed 99 Time(s) _________________ Elizabeth
Last edited by Strixaluco on Sun May 29, 2011 7:01 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Nobby
Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 327 Location: Kenley Surrey UK

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Nobby
Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 327 Location: Kenley Surrey UK

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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 8:24 am Post subject: |
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Quote: | minijoan said I only have a very small ground level bird bath and I fill it at least three times a day. |
I forgot to mention when I fitted the sump I made sure the ground for about 2 foot around it had a small incline towards it. I then laid a PVC sheet over the top cutting out a hole for the sump and metal grate. The PVC sheet is then covered over with pebbles to hide it. This way any water splashing out from the waterfall ends up back in the sump. It will also refill itself when we get a heavy summer shower.
I tend to run the pump all day when I am in and turn it off overnight. I just top up the sump every few weeks so it is very low maintenance ( the pump has a safety device that shuts itself down if the sump ever runs dry).
I have just rigged up my old camcorder to watch over the bird baths this morning and have hooked it up to iCatcher on a 5 second heartbeat capture. This should give me a timelapse view of what birds are visiting throughout the day. _________________ http://www.brettoliver.org.uk/Nestbox/nest_box.htm |
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Nobby
Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 327 Location: Kenley Surrey UK

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Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 7:00 am Post subject: |
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I ran iCatcher in time-lapse mode on my Bird bath for most of the day Monday and was amazed at how many birds visited.
I must admit I had not realised how important putting out water for birds was until I played the video back.
Here are a couple of stills and a link to the time-lapse video captured yesterday.
Great Spotted WoodpeckerPoster: Nobby, viewed 56 Time(s)
JayPoster: Nobby, viewed 56 Time(s)
Time-lapse video. 1 frame every 5 seconds. http://youtu.be/5viEeUSNanw _________________ http://www.brettoliver.org.uk/Nestbox/nest_box.htm |
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minijoan
Joined: 06 Mar 2011 Posts: 297 Location: Northampton

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Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 7:57 am Post subject: |
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Wow - lucky you, what brilliant phot's. In the past I have spend hours sitting in hides waiting for Great Spotted Woodpeckers and other birds to appear and you have them visiting your waterfall in your secret garden, how lucky is that?
Joan |
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Nobby
Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 327 Location: Kenley Surrey UK

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Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 9:27 am Post subject: |
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Yes. I am very lucky here I am surrounded by the woods and chalk downlands of the North Downs so I get many woodland birds especially Blue and great tits and the odd wood pecker. _________________ http://www.brettoliver.org.uk/Nestbox/nest_box.htm |
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starseven
Joined: 16 Sep 2011 Posts: 33 Location: Newcastle Upon Tyne

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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 2:07 am Post subject: |
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very jealous of those photos, especially with the jay - I've never been lucky enough to see one, don't think they're too common here in the North East. Love Nobby's water feature and garden, looks really peaceful. |
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Nobby
Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 327 Location: Kenley Surrey UK

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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 6:48 am Post subject: |
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Thanks starseven the Jays are very shy birds I only really see them from the house. As soon as they see me in the garden the are off.
You can see the Jay bathing in the time-lapse video at 1 min 20 sec in. I was quite surprised at how wet it gets. Must be a bit risky if there are predators around?
If you have not seen the video already it is here.
http://youtu.be/5viEeUSNanw _________________ http://www.brettoliver.org.uk/Nestbox/nest_box.htm |
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