Purple Martins 2024 & Building a Waterfall Birdbath

This year's purple martin season just flew by. I wasn't able to spend as much time with them as I usually did in previous years, but it was enough to do nest checks and make sure there were no major issues. I wasn't able to do nest checks for the last 4 weeks due to some other unforeseen issues, but, my numbers this year at last count were: 82 pair, roughly 310 fledged (without confirmation of the last 8 nests). They all finally left my site during the second week of July.

Yes, I still had my resident GHO show up...she's kinda like Dory in the movie, "Finding Nemo"...she just keeps swimmin' hoping she'll find & catch a martin one night. 

I'm sure, in the end, she probably caught a few that exited for the magical "Dawn Song" hours, but at least it wasn't a slaughter. The cages continue to work well, especially with the netting underneath. I had a very determined Sharp-Shinned hawk at the beginning of the season, prior to my mounting of the netting. He/She actually came up inside the cages a couple of times to try to catch a martin. But after mounting the netting on the racks, he/she never attempted that again.

Great Horned Owl - May 6, 2024 - 9:00 PM

At the beginning of the season, the purple martins tend to be very noisy - especially during the daytime hours. I've actually seen the owl perched in a tree in the distant treeline during the day, while she observed my colony. Probably planning her strategy. She really does try to figure out the perfect angles.

Great Horned Owl, stalking my colony from the ground. May 6, 2024 - 9:12 PM

You really have to give her an A+ for effort.

Great Horned Owl, stalking my colony from the nearby perching rack. May 7, 2024 - 4:38 AM

I had been meaning to construct a new bird bath and an elderly gentleman that came by to pick up some stuff ended up pushing that decision up in my priority list when he accidentally backed over my old bird bath arrangement. I had been itching to re-do it anyway, given the bird bath arrangements my friends were sharing on social media. So, very frankly, after he destroyed my original setup, I may have secretly cheered. Ha!

Given the various issues I had with my old bird bath (and lessons-learned), I had a better plan this time.

I wanted:

-  a 'waterfall' bath with an upper & lower tray; 

- more water capacity in the trays themselves; 

- a large capacity water container (so I didn't have to keep refilling the trays during extreme heat) ;

- a pump to circulate the water; and

- a better location for birdie access and out of the way of people who should no longer be driving a vehicle.

I found the perfect trays on Amazon (thanks to a friend's help) and hubby and I decided to make a trip to our local hardware store to try to find ideas on how to make the water supply system more self-sustaining. After quite some time walking around, a store associate helped us find a nifty item called a "bulkhead flange". OMG, this thing is awesome! It has a gasket on one side to help seal the hole and a lock nut on the other side so you can tighten it. We drilled the right size hole in the bottom of the tray, mounted it, then used a small length of PVC pipe to set the level of the water for the lower tray. I placed some screen over the hole and used a zip tie to hold it in place. It filters a lot of stuff out before it can get into the water-holding bin.

The bin below is a 20-gallon storage container (Walmart). We bought a 45 & a 90 degree elbow and enough 1.5" PVC to make sure if we made a mistake, we still had some remaining with which we could make more mistakes.

We then cut a short, 6" piece of PVC pipe to add to the 90 degree elbow, for the water return. It's also fitted into the elbow, just tight enough that I can remove the bin lid and reach in and twist it off when I decide I need to clean the bin.

After finding a highly-rated solar powered pump, we connected tubing and the flow control. I thought we would need a flow control since the pump has a 350 gph flow, but turns out we ended up not needing the controller.

 

 

The black outflow gadget mounted in the picture below was able to be mounted to the tubing and it is held in place by some cool rocks I was able to find.

 

 

 

I then placed the pump into the filled bin and we drilled the access hole large enough to hold the water supply line and the power cable that runs to the solar panel. 

 

 

After some "proof of concept" stuff (as Mr. Freeze likes to call it), we have landed on the final product. It did take awhile to get the tilt on the top bath just right and we ended up using some of the leftover composite decking materials to support the bottoms of the trays (they're water-proof & will last forever). 

We used cinder blocks on either side to support the planks & trays and my grandsons camouflaged the blocks with our cool rocks.

My purple martins' reactions to it were rather funny - they're such curious buggers! They would do low & slow flying passes to check it out, but never did land.

 

Best of all, we have a 5-star rating from our many customers. They think the price - "pose for a photo" is more than fair. Clicking on the pictures will launch them into a larger window for better viewing.

Male & female bluebirds

Male cardinal

Female Cowbird - contemplating her life decisions.

Female Orchard Oriole

The look on the field sparrow's face (in the lower tray), when a pair of Grey Catbirds fly in to take a bath (hehe).

Field Sparrow - he/she has earned frequent bather awards.

Dickcissel contemplating a bath

Cardinal and a Bluebird

Blue-winged warbler (yellow bird) and Indigo Bunting

Female Indigo Bunting

DIY Birdbath

Using the lessons I learned from the last birdbath I poured, (see that project here:  http://kathyfreeze.blogspot.com/2014/08/making-it-way-you-want-it.html, and here:  http://kathyfreeze.blogspot.com/2014/08/success-is-in-eyes-of-beholder.html),
I decided to pour the second one this week.  I've been asked by a few people how I did it, so this time, I'll list the supplies and a few more details.
First, determine what shape you want.  I found my planter pot saucers at Lowe's for about $5 and the large one is just the right size for the bath that I want. 
I use this 'Quikrete' concrete mix (already has the appropriate sand and concrete blend) which can be used for paving bricks. 

 

I also add this Concrete Acrylic Fortifier - it helps increase bonding and water resistance.  For color, I like the 'Terra Cotta' color, but there are others available.  All of these things were purchased at Lowe's. 

This time, we're using sand.  Much easier to work with.  Normally, it's recommended to use "Casting Sand" when pouring concrete molds, but we're using 'Paver Sand'.  The Casting sand is not available around here and, after finding it online and seeing the price, I was quite happy to just work with the paver sand.

Bob framed up a box that is approx 4-5" bigger than my mold, to help hold it all together. 
First things, first - find a place that is in the shade all day, so you can work comfortably, and also has a source of water nearby.  You will also want your freshly-poured birdbath to be in the shade for at least 48 hours, so that it doesn't dry out too quickly.
Since I'm making a total of 3 bird baths and I want the water to flow from one to the other, I also added pour spouts on each of mine.  The bottom one will pour into a 5 gallon reservoir, in which I'll place a water pump to pump the water back up to the top bath.  If you're just making a simple, single bird bath, you don't need a pour spout.
Place your chosen tray upside down in your box, then pour in your sand.  Wet the sand thoroughly.  You will need something with flat sides with which to pack the sand (I used the small stick in the picture to pack it with), then hollow out every place you want concrete to flow into.  I found a trim tile piece to use for the shape of my spout.  Make sure you wrap it with Saran Wrap, or you will have a heck of a time getting it unstuck from the concrete.

My planter tray, turned upside down, the piece over which I'll pour the concrete for the spout, the stick I use to pack the sand down, and the wooden spoon that I scrape around the outer edges to shape the sides of the bath.

A closeup of the tile piece I use to shape my spout.  This was exactly the shape & size I needed for my spout.  Wrap it in a non-stick material, so you can remove it after the concrete hardens.

I used a wooden spoon to pull out the sand around the edges of my mold as it was just the right thickness for my bath - about 1.5" wide and I could ensure my sides would be even.  You can adjust your bath to be more shallow by leaving more sand around the edges of your mold (the trough area), but for me, it was easier to just adjust the depth of it by making my spout higher or lower on the side of the pan.  Now is a good time to place any decorations for your bath on top of the mold and in the trough areas.  Last year, I used leaves from my sycamore tree and cucumber plants.  Remember - you have to think 'upside down' when you're carving your mold out of the sand.  It's also really important to pat your concrete down into the mold as you pour it, so that you don't end up with creases and air voids (see the pour spout on the bath below as an example of what it will look like if you don't pat it down enough).  I did a great job around the edges of this bath, but the spout came out kind of rough looking.  I try to work quickly with this stuff, because I'm afraid it's going to setup before I can get it tapped in.  Lesson learned - slow down and work each edge thoroughly.
For this birdbath, I used scraps of stained glass that I had been saving.  After turning the bath over (we waited about 24 hours), I found that the concrete had slid under the glass and encased it.  Thankfully, the concrete wasn't fully hardened off and I was able to scrape some off to reveal the glass underneath.

The finished bath - the overflow spout is kind of rough looking, but it's functional.  Next time, I will use bigger pieces of glass also.

I poured the leftover concrete into a few smaller sized planter saucers that I had lying around to make some stepping stones for my garden.  I also pressed some scrap stained glass into the tops of them, working them back & forth to get them secured into the concrete.  The biggest mistake I made with these was the planter saucers are made of ceramic and I couldn't separate them from the concrete afterwards.  So - lesson learned - either put down Saran wrap before pouring into a ceramic mold or use plastic molds.  Make sure you look at the molds you choose very carefully.  The concrete tends to take on the features of your mold very nicely (look at the ridges in the picture above), so make sure you like the designs in your chosen mold - because that's what you're going to see when you tip the bath out.

One of the stepping stones in my garden.

Success is in the Eyes of the Beholder

When checking the smaller items that were made with the concrete over the last couple of days, we decided that today was a good day to liberate the bird bath from its walls and let it be free.  At first, I was disappointed at the ugly structure that emerged from the clay mold, but after studying it for awhile I started to really like it.  Is this the way a mother feels about an ugly baby?  I wouldn't know - I didn't have an ugly baby.

But this, this is different.  I hold no emotional attachment to it, only monetary investment.  Or do I?  As I studied it, I realized that I was starting to fall in love with it.  It needs some work on the spout, but otherwise, it is quite functional.  While it may be quite ugly around the edges, a slow realization started to glow in my brain.  This is so me.  This is the way it turns out for me sometimes.  Ugly, but quite functional.  I'm not about prettiness in my yard.  I've always been about function and this happens to be quite functional as it holds water and will provide my birds with a place to bathe.  It's unique.  It's mine. It works for the birds and it works for me.  Well, it will work for me after some grinding on the overflow spout.  I'm willing to bet my life savings that there's not another one like it in the world either.  It's so, MINE!  It's so "Kathy" so yes, I'm kind of proud of it.

Making it the Way you want it

With only 2 pairs of purple martins here, still feeding their young, I have started looking at the other things on my list.  One of my major annoyances has been the constant, twice a day refilling of my el-cheapo, concrete, shallow bird bath since the weather has been so hot & dry.  It just doesn't hold a lot of water and I finally just gave up and let it go dry.  But the birds have still been stopping by and peering forlornly at the empty bath, making me feel guilty
I have seen many DIY projects for building a homemade bird bath, but none of them were exactly what I wanted or envisioned and I was quite sure that what I wanted was not available for purchase.  Not at a price I would pay, anyway.  I wanted something that I wouldn't have to refill two or three times a day.  Something with a 6 to 10 gallon water reservoir.  Just over a week ago, we finally setup a prototype of what I thought I might want and waited to see if the birds would like the waterfalls. 

3, 18" planter water trays, small aquarium pump, aquarium hose and a 6-gallon reservoir and my prototype was up & running.

Turns out, they love it!  But I still wasn't happy with the plastic trays - they were too deep and smooth and I had to add rocks to them to make them more shallow.  That would negate their formerly "easy-to-clean" attractiveness.  And I just didn't love them.  I could live with them, but that's different than loving them.  My darling husband knew that I wasn't happy with them and came up with the idea of molding and making our own bird baths with pour spouts at a depth of our choosing.  He always has great ideas.  I do too, but often his implementation is better than mine.  That's because he's more patient than I am and I was excited. 
I love making my own stuff and I love being crafty, so with a vacation day on Friday, we put his plan into action.  In Missouri, clay is our typical "top soil".  So we decided to take advantage of the ability to use it to make a mold for our bird bath trays.

One bucket of clay, coming up!

The form for holding our mold.

The clay was sifted to remove all the rocks & big chunks.

Add water to make a super, gooey, sticky mix.

It has to be so sticky that it can pull your gloves off.

And makes you giggle.

I centered the pan, upside down and shaped the mold.

Final shape, with an overflow spout, to keep the water level where I want it.  I had to shape the spout twice.  Must remember to think upside-down!

My supervisor is so serious.  There will be no goofing off on this project, missy!  He told me not to post this picture, unless I was prepared to fight off all the women that will now flock to our home to find this handsome hunk.  Bring it, ladies!

My first test-run with a leaf casting, using clay as a practice substitute for concrete.

The pour is done.  The Terra Cotta color of the concrete doesn't exactly match the color you see in the bucket on the left.  But I can live with it.  We added this fortifier, so no wet cure is needed and neither is sealant: http://www.quikrete.com/productlines/ConcreteAcrylicFortifier.asp

 I will call this bird bath my "Cucumber Cool" bath, since I used all cucumber leaves under the concrete.  For my stepping stones below, I used a couple of grapevine leaves (as in the clay picture above) and some leaves from a Sycamore tree in the bigger trays.

My stepping stones and a 'brick' were poured out of the remaining concrete.

Now we wait.