I'm new here so if this is the wrong forum for this question, just smack me !
My wife and I are new to birdwatching......but now totally addicted and obsessed. Within just a few weeks in the summer here in eastern Tennessee, we've had about 15 different bird types either at our feeders or within maybe 50 feet of them. Finally a few Goldfinches coming around but just as much fun last night, a Brown Thrasher.
Everything I read says that adding water into the picture, especially the sound of dripping / running water, really brings more birds around. I bought just one simple birdbath and placed some rocks inside to give them a perch either on the edge or on the rocks. I created a simple little fountain with a small pump, a medium sized planting pot and a pan. Instead of putting the pan under the pot, I put it on top and cut a hole in it for the tube to come up through from the pump below. The water runs back down into the pot around that tube as well but I have enough water in there to keep an inch or two of water in the pan topside. I put some rocks in there as well to give it that gurgling sound instead of the sound of water hitting the plastic pan.
This combination of bath and fountain I put about 30 feet away from our feeders and beside a tree. So far, I've had one Goldfinch drink from it and some traffic from House Finches. They drink but I've not really seen a bird bathe in it. Is there a time of day that they normally bathe ? After a week of having them in place, should I expect more "traffic" at the birdbath ? Or does this sound pretty normal ?
Sorry for the long post......just trying to learn here !
Thanks,
Steve
