Watering the Wildlife

 One of the most pleasant ways to spend your time in the spring and summer is garden wildlife watching.  It is mindful and relaxing - a great way to reduce stress levels without leaving the comfort of your own chair. Over the lockdown period, I have noticed just how important water is in attracting wildlife and providing scenes worth staring at.  Many of us have been feeding birds for years, and planting flowers to attract pollinators - but how much thought has been given to providing plenty of drinking and bathing water?


I currently have six sources of water on my small back garden and each seems to be favoured by different creatures. Firstly, there is the pond. This is home to the frogs, whose spawn provides entertainment every spring and summer as it develops into tadpoles and froglets. To me, the arrival of frogspawn is a joyous occasion as then I know that winter really is on its way out. But the pond also has a shallow end which is filled with pebbles and this is where the hedgehogs drink and the robins bathe.  I love to watch a robin taking a bath and they seem to do this every evening - they are clean and thorough little creatures!

In the little plot where I grow fruit and vegetables I have sunk a big bucket and filled it 3/4 full with stones. Occasionally we have had frogs in there too, but it is mainly a drinking point for wood pigeons and cats - and a bath for the blackbirds. Over on my shady north-facing border I have sunk an old ceramic mixing jug - the handle broke off making it no good for kitchen use - but the bowl was sound and it seemed a shame to waste it. Again, a few stones and pebbles ensure minimal risk of drowning and this has now become the regular squirrel and great tit drinking point. 

The squirrels also like to stand on their back paws and reach up to an old tin bath and Belfast sink that I have turned into water features for the patio. The wood pigeons also drink from the old bath and I have seen some of the more unusual visitors stop there for refreshment as they are passing through. Last summer I had yellow wagtails and a sparrowhawk (not at the same time!). The wood pigeons' preferred bathing point is a traditional bird bath, which is raised on a two-foot pedestal. They tend to plonk their entire selves in it and simply sit there and have a soak. 

Occasionally, other airborne creatures are attracted to the water.  Bees need a drink as well as birds, and just a couple of times I have been treated to the sight of a dragonfly passing over the pond. All of this wildlife pauses in my garden because the water is there for them, and easily accessible to them. Put it out there and they will come. I have no idea where the first frog came from as there are no other ponds in the gardens around mine - but now there is a healthy colony. 

Over the past year, I have become so tired of cooking and washing up all of the time - but the chore has been made so much easier by the view from the kitchen window. All it takes to make me smile again is the sight of a robin jumping, diving and shaking off the dust of the day.


Instagram: @smellynature999


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