[Mnbird] An owl in the birdbath

[DONALD GRUSSING Owner]

When I was young I caught a screech owl in a steel trap purposely set under a coupe of inches of water  in a lake shore to try to catch a mink.  (I know everybody hates trapping, but as a poor kid in a small town it was a way to try to make some money selling furs.). I was a bad trapper and had too many leaves hiding the trap.  As a result, the owl was not hurt, but was cold and wet.  After riding around for 45 minutes next to the heater in my 1950 Oldsmobile, it was fine, but not feisty.


I brought it to the mom of my best friend (she loved birds) and after examination and a couple of pictures we released it.  It flew very well.  I wondered why the owl was wading around in the water and only later in life learned that they sometimes prey on minnows and amphibians.


Wasps and honey bees also come to my bird bath to drink. How does your dog feel about sharing its water with so many visitors?


Don Grussing
Minnetonka


On Wed, 2 Aug, 2023 at 11:34 AM, Allen Batt via Mnbird <mnbird at lists.mnbird.net> wrote:
 

To: mnbird

 I use a heated dog dish as a birdbath. It thinks it’s a birdbath and I don’t have the heart to tell it otherwise. It works great and I haven’t needed the heated part recently. That tiny body of water has brought me much pleasure. On July 31, an Orchard Oriole spent time in the dish, splashing with a gusto nearly matching that of the Baltimore Orioles. Then at dusk, an Eastern Screech-Owl visited the pool. The tiny owls regularly use birdbaths for drinking and bathing. So many things patronize that birdbath, I wouldn’t have been surprised if one of those ancient U.S. Navy Frogmen that were available as toys in boxes of Kellogg's Corn Flakes and Kellogg's Frosted Flakes showed up. Little me put high-pressure propellant (baking powder) in a frogman’s foot and he went diving. A miniature frogman might be too much to hope for, but you never know what you’ll see when you watch birds.

Al Batt
Your Freeborn County Correspondent



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