You can make a birdbath out of many ordinary everyday things you have around your house or yard. You can a use a serving bowl, a plant saucer, a pie tin (cheap foil one from the grocery store?) or a glass one. Literally anything that will hold water. If it's too deep or too slick, then place a rock or rocks in it so the birdies can have footing. You can place said item directly on the ground or on a table top.

I'm somewhat of a slob and forget to pick up after myself. One day I observed some birds taking a bath. I had left the lid from a metal trash can out in the garden, upside down, it had filled with rain water and the birds were having a lovely bath. Yep, the birds don't care about the price tag. They only want some clean water and a safe place to bathe.

I use ceramic pie pans , old frying pans , big plant saucers , ceramic bowls in upside down tomato cages as many as I can maintain ,

which right now is a frying pan for drinking with wire fencing over it to keep them from splashing it all out every five seconds.

and the two tomato cage ceramic bowls one with a big rock and one without ,

and our waterfall fountain , running water is a definite draw to wildlife.



I definitely recommend a long handle soft bristle scrub brush for algae
and maybe a small fish net to scoop seeds and things out of otherwise clean water
the net is mainly for the fountain but I use it on birdbaths sometimes.



and a heater for winter , lol

I've done my best to turn an old table top fountain that was collecting dust in the basement into a hummingbird fountain too ,
but I have yet to see one use it. In it's defense , I have not always put it out , only when I have time, energy and room.

Krobra,

Like your ideas and the photos of the bathing birds 😂

😀

Mindi

Love these ideas

When we bought our getaway cabin property in Central TX 2 years ago, the former owners had an internet connection which left a really ugly 3" heavy duty steel pipe with attached dish right in the middle of the front yard, well-seated in cement. Can you spell U-G-L-Y??!! Well, we knew WE would never want internet service out there in the boonies (I mean why does one buy a rural getaway property if not to get away from normal city life?), so I went and removed the dish from the top, wrapped the wire around the pole base. Then I shopped around for a large, broad, melamine serving bowl at the dollar store. Found a perfect one with a cobalt blue bottom, my color theme in that yard. Using E6000, I glued it to the top of the steel pole, filled it with water and VOILA, instant bird bath. A little high, but the birds don't seem to mind that. And they must be using it, because there is bird poop all around the edge when I wash/fill it again. I'll try to remember to take my camera down next trip and post it here.

Peggy8b said:When we bought our getaway cabin property in Central TX 2 years ago, the former owners had an internet connection which left a really ugly 3" heavy duty steel pipe with attached dish right in the middle of the front yard, well-seated in cement. Can you spell U-G-L-Y??!! Well, we knew WE would never want internet service out there in the boonies (I mean why does one buy a rural getaway property if not to get away from normal city life?), so I went and removed the dish from the top, wrapped the wire around the pole base. Then I shopped around for a large, broad, melamine serving bowl at the dollar store. Found a perfect one with a cobalt blue bottom, my color theme in that yard. Using E6000, I glued it to the top of the steel pole, filled it with water and VOILA, instant bird bath. A little high, but the birds don't seem to mind that. And they must be using it, because there is bird poop all around the edge when I wash/fill it again. I'll try to remember to take my camera down next trip and post it here.

Any pictures yet?

No, I keep forgetting my camera. But we're going down Friday and I just put the camera in my purse. If I can just remember to take the photo, I'll post it for sure.

OK, I finally remembered to take a photo today of my internet "dish" birdbath. The bowl is royal blue melamine, nothing special. But the birds, and even the hawks out there land on the sides. It was totally dried up empty today so I refilled it with fresh water. I "blast" the thing out with the hose set on jet to clean it, as the thing is too tall for me to wash/scrub it well without a ladder. And the hubs was riding around mowing today, so I didn't want to get the ladder out. Otherwise I'd have taken a photo of the inside from above. The interior is white, with a blue and yellow pattern. Only the birds can see that. ;)


The real dish we removed from the top of the connection pole is destined to become a planter on the other side of the yard. There used to be an above ground pool (in deplorable condition) by the cabin that we had the sellers remove before closing. So there is a 2½' tall 4x4 post (electric outlet was mounted on it) sticking up in the side yard. Plan to cover that electric box with plastic and tape to keep water out of it. Then I will attach the internet dish on top of the post (not sure how yet) and use it to plant perhaps a potted bougainvillea. It is full sun until late afternoon and a bougie would do quite well there. Would be real pretty as that post is viewed from the cabin dining table. Will post a pic of the final planter if I ever get it started and finished.

Peggy, this is so cool! It's great on so many levels, especially the re-using one and I'm sure the birds love it as well.

Thank you, Joanna. It's not pretty, but prettier than the ugly internet dish was. Just functional.

Peggy8b said:Thank you, Joanna. It's not pretty, but prettier than the ugly internet dish was. Just functional. :)

How about planting a flowering vine at it's base? Then it'd be really pretty! You'd just have to keep it trimmed so that it wouldn't take over the water area.

That's a good idea. Heavenly Blue Morning Glory would be real pretty on it but MG's can be invasive (though I think that one isn't quite so bad). Would hate for it to creep across the grass and take over the chain link fence. I'll do some hunting around for other flowering vines. Thanks for the tip!

Peggy,
what a great idea. Many people have these poles in their yards and now they can re - purpose them thanks to your great idea. Recycling everything we can to make your landscape look better is always a great idea!

I went to a garage sale and bought a huge potted bougainvillea (red, she said). I want to plant it at the base directly in the ground. It's got really big, woody trunks and may be able to survive a winter if I wrap it and the pole with a tarp for winter and mulch around the roots heavily. That's what I'm hoping, at any rate.

Good luck Peggy! Let us know how it turns out!

@Peggy8b Great ideas on the birdbath on top of the pole and re-purposing the internet dish. Any recent pictures?

@flaflwrgrl Nice topic for a thread, Ann.

@krobra Kurt, I love your old table fountain and your ceramic bird bath ideas. I have made a lot of totems using glass and ceramic bowls on top for bird baths. I will post a picture some time if I can find some.

Darn, I was down at the cabin all week, had my camera but forgot to take a photo of the finished bird bath on the pole. The birds are liking it though. Mostly junkos and the occasional cardinal get up there. The mountain bluebirds haven't come around yet this season. I'll get a photo of it though, I promise.