I’ve been hooked on bird watching, and bird photography, since I was in my teens. I drove my parents crazy asking them to buy more bird food, plant bushes the birds would like, and creating brush piles in the backyard where ground birds could hide. But even with 10 feeders hanging all over the yard, one item in particular really attracted birds to our backyard; a bird bath with fountain. Back in the day your only option was buying an expensive fountain pump connected to AC power to create an irresistible gurgling splash.
Times have changed. We have set up an extensive backyard bird blind and feeder set up this fall, photographing a lot of birds for our upcoming online bird photography class. And recently I went looking for an inexpensive bird bath with fountain, and wow did I find one. Browsing Amazon I found the Vivohome bird bath with solar pump. At $45 dollars, it seemed to good to be true. We purchased one, and I have to say it has exceeded all our expectations.
Backyard Bird Blind
Each morning we fill up the bird bath with fresh water, drop the pump in, and the second any sunlight hits the backyard and the fountain starting shooting a steady stream of water into the air. Birds can’t resist. They come to your yard for water as much as food. Even better, we have set up our portable blind so we shoot through water droplets at birds on the bath creating great bokeh droplets (check out Cree’s photo at top). The fountain has different caps to change the amount and style of the fountain. The only downside we have found is that after a full day of spraying we have to refill the bath with more water.
If you are looking for some enjoyable photography to do at home, consider setting up a backyard bird feeding station and habitat. We will go into detail on this topic during our online class. But one surefire way to get birds coming to your yard is a sprinkling bird bath!