I will always have birdbaths. And I love the sound of a fountian, trickling or bubbling; but we had one for quite some time and we discovered the down side of them. A great lot of upkeep. The pumps get clogged, the water turns brown or green & full of algae & in the heat of summer it's a real bear to go out & clean the whole thing out every 5 days. And then too there were the BUFO toads down where we lived & they just love the sound of running water & we have a terrier so that means the fountain has to go or the dog has to go --- guess which went? For those who don't know; the poison from a Bufo toad can kill a dog before you can get it to the vet. And there was also the problem of if you put chemicals in the water to keep the algae away then the splish splash of the water falling on plants around the fountain kills the plants. And I'm not comfortable with the birds drinking those same chemicals. So, for me, I'll stick with the birdbaths & leave the fountains & ponds to others.
