Hot!

The thermometer under the pecan tree read 110 this afternoon. That's in the shade, people! It is right now, at 8:45 p.m., still about 95 degrees.

The fish in the pool under the bridge near my house are starting to die. There were four dead ones today. I might end up taking the shovel down there to bury them, to keep down the smell and the flies and the chance of Nipper eating them a couple weeks from now. Yuck.

Since the creek is pretty much dry, and it's so hot, I set up a birdbath in the back yard. It's pretty easy to do. Birds are more attracted to moving water over stagnant water for bathing and drinking (wouldn't you be?), and this is a cheap way to help them out.

Just find a large dish -- just a couple inches deep at the most. I first used a plastic planter dish, then got a larger terra cotta one (the kind you would put under a pot to catch the water that leaks out). Set that someplace attractive to the birds. Mine is on the ground, but it could be on some kind of stand, too. Set it in the open somewhat, where predators won't be able hide and get the birds while they're drinking or bathing.

Then you need to hang some kind of container above it. I used a shepherd's hook, but you could use a tree branch if that's handy. For the container, I used a small drink bottle (not too small -- you don't want to have to constantly refill it -- and not too large that it will be too heavy for whatever you hang it from). I drilled a small hole near the top to put a bent wire hanger through to hang it from the pole. Poke a hole near the bottom with a pin and hang it up. The hole in the plastic of the bottle I used was actually too big, causing the water to spray, so I endup up putting some duct tape over that and poking a small hole in the duct tape. That seemed to make for a good drip rate.

I've seen robins and starlings and finches using the bath, and I'm sure they'll be more as word spreads. I'm sure the birds tell each other these things, because in the winter, they all seem to know when I put out fresh seed! And today when I was refilling the bottle, there was a bird in the tree singing. It sounded like it was trying to tell me to hurry up.

Here's some instructions for birdbaths/drippers:
Easy milk jug dripper
Bird bath water dripper with pictures.