Fancied up the watering hole

My sister, JoAnne, had an extra concrete birdbath top and was kind enough to give it to me for my "critter watering hole". It looks much nicer and is wide enough and shallow enough for the birds to bath in. The squirrels were a bit leary of it, at first, but it didn't take long for them to figure it out.

I dont worry about the neighborhood cats bothering the birds, with it so close to the ground.....the fence is my little dog's yard....and she doesnt like cats.

Wildlife Watering Hole

I mentioned my critter watering hole in my last post. Thought I should show you what I was talking about.

If you leave motors or electrical stuff sit too long in our humid weather, pretty soon nothing works. We came back from a 2-3 month boat trip and our water pump wouldn’t work. Jim had to spend a couple of hours getting it going. So the next time we went, I left the hose drip very slowly. It would start the pump at least one every two days.

I let it drip on the tangelo tree. No need to waste water. Once the weather warmed up the birdbath started getting pretty hot by mid-day and no one was getting a drink.

I took an old dog watering dish and screwed it to the fence post.  Hose drips in it and keeps it full. (birdbath would be dried out in a week). Every third day I turn the water up to a slow steady stream for a few hours. It cleans the dish out and gives the Tangelo tree a good soaking.

Do the birds like it?

I think so.

How about the Squirrels?

Yup!!  They almost line up and take turns. Good clean and fairly cool water, and I can go away and not worry about it going dry.

Five-lined Skink

I was outside fixing my critter watering hole and when I started down the steps, after adjusting the water flow….I almost stepped on this Five-Lined Skink.

Look at the “weave” like pattern of it’s hide.

Notice the lines along the tops of its feet. It about 5” long.   They are really very pretty, but don’t normally hang around long enough for you to get a good picture. I was surprised it was still there after I reached back inside for my camera.  I guess I will have to learn to work outdoors with it hanging around my neck.

Albin 27 our home away from home…

This is the boat we spend our time on. It’s an Albin 27. Nice sleeper berth, galley and fairly large cockpit. Very comfortable. We spent most of the winter on it. We took it to Key Biscayne, S of Miami, by way of the St Johns River to Jacksonville, FL and down the ICW. The ICW was nice…love looking for dolphins…but you can not beat the St Johns River for wildlife!!

The Manatees come into Blue Springs during the winter. You can beach a boat or kayak and walk into the springs from the river. There is a spot to anchor, if you can’t beach, a short ways N, and you can dingy in. That’s what we do. I took these in late Jan ‘09.

The pictures of the Bald Eagle etc were taken while out on the boat. I’ll be adding gators and more waterfowl as soon as we get back in the water. This is our Albin.

The Albin 27 , below, showed up in Silver Glen Springs, just off of Lake  George. It has a hardtop.  Jim has been wanting to put one on ours…after he saw this one he’s sure he wants one. Me too! Beautiful boat…Muskrat Love..out of Welaka, FL.

If you follow my blog for very long…you will see I like all the wildlife around us, I love our boat and being on the water.  So keep checking back…you might be surprised at what you’ll find.

Florida’s state butterfly…..Zebra Heliconian

I love this butterfly. It was so interested in the pollen on my Bottlebrush tree, that I   was able to snap a few pictures. It has some small red spots on the underside of the wings, but you have to look close to see they are not part of the red bottlebrush.

According to the Florida Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association, they roost together at night. Usually in the same spot, in a large group.  I have not located their roosting spot but will be looking.

I have 2 Bottlebrush trees near my front yard. They are frequented by the butterflies and hummingbirds. It is also great dense cover for the Painted Buntings and the Indigo Buntings.

I think this is a Palmedes Swallowtail butterfly…he was not as interested in the Bottlebrush and never stopped moving his wings.

He had to try…

The feeder was only in place a few hours and this little guy had to try it…. As soon as he let go with his hind feet…he shot right off it…like sliding downhill on your belly. I have some video…..now I have to figure out how to insert it.

My new squirrel proof feeder

I ordered a new feeder that is supposed to be squirrel proof.  We’ll see. If it works as it’s supposed to…I’ll order another one for the back yard. Then I will be able to put out a fair amount of feed and not have to worry about running out when we take a few days on the boat.

We put it on a cable that is strung between two palm trees. The Titmice were the first ones to find it.

I would like to have it closer to the house for pictures. This is about all the zoom my small camera has. But, here, it will have a bit of shade for most of the day. I am thinking this will be better for the seed and perhaps create less condensation inside. The FL summer sun can be brutal on everything.

This one has a divider so there are 4 compartments. I will put sunflower seed in one section for the Titmice and Cardinals and a mix in the others.

The feeder has been up for almost 3 hours. Looks like we might get a test sometime soon.

We were in NY and VT for 3 weeks and I missed the migration of the Buntings. I only got home last night but have not seen any today. I did notice that while the Buntings were here I had no Titmice coming to the front feeders….they are here now. Coincidence?  or just don’t feed together?  I don’t know.