HELPING THE BIRDS
When I awoke from a nap on the couch and looked out the patio doors, a mourning dove was looking at me, accusingly. Where's the water? You know we need water more than we need food! OK, OK. I'll figure something out for you. Hold your ponies . . . We have two heated birdbaths, but they're no good to anybird if they're either empty or under the snow. The one under the snow melted the snow above it, but there was nothing for the birds to sit on, so that was pretty useless, altho I did see various tracks leading to it; mostly rabbit & squirrel. Planning this was like planning a battle: Where best to dig and walk; how best to get the water & food outside, since I was the only human in the house. Containers of water & food at the ready, coat, headwarmer, boots & gloves . . . off I went, digging a path from the dogs' area right off the patio steps . . . (And WHO do you think was not only right behind me, but off making her own trails once I opened the snowwall?? Daisy2Legs, of course. Freedom!, she yelled as she blazed a trail through AND OVER the snow drifts.) First, check the two-sided feeder; it needed filling and one side was full of snow, not surprisingly.
I checked the externally-heated birdbath; as I suspected, it was iced all around the edges; the water that was still, well, water, was filthy. I emptied it, broke away the ice rim and filled it with clean warm water. The woodpeckers & nuthatches like this one because they can come down the tree trunk, take a drink, then travel right up again. As do the squirrels.
I next checked the one-sided feeder to be sure it was still full, and spread around some food. I suspect more than birds eat this food, full of fruits & nuts, especially at night. Last was the internally-heated (and better quality) birdbath, which had been hidden in a drift. It had melted the snow above it, so I knew right where it was, but again, there was no place for birds to perch while drinking. I dug out the area around it and added some clean warm water. This should be good for a few days, unless the sparrows under the deck all decide on Friday baths. I now realized I had a problem . . . once Daisy made trails, everydog would be wandering through the yard, perhaps getting stuck, and guess who has to come to rescue? Let alone clean up after them, since now they were free to p**p wherever they wanted. What to do. Put the snow back on the trail? No, I would probably want to fill the feeders & birdbaths again. Put up a gate? I don't have any not being used indoors. AHA. Put the shovel up as a gate; it's just high enough to keep Daisy in the pen, which means the others will stay in, too. It is 5 p.m. on 3 February; I'm not plowed out yet; I'm the only unshoveled sidewalk & driveway on the block. It's city law to clean sidewalks within 24 hours of the end of a snowfall . . . AND I have to have my hair & nails done tomorrow morning, then go to lunch with MaryB, SO . . . let's hope the snow removal guys come tonight!

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