With the current hit & dry weather its good to put out a bowl of water if you can
( no milk ).
Birds could also use a helping hand with a birdbath or just a large plate of water.
And last but not least
Just found a very thirsty hedgehog on the terrace.
We have been putting bowls out on our patio for a while.
Last night as I went to close the kitchen blind before going up to bed I was surprised to see a very fat hedgehog and and young fox drinking side by side from the same bowl.
Foxes and hedgehogs are both regular visitors but it was lovely to see them together.
Yes, we have put bowl of water all over the place and at different heights. At the back, in the meadow- a huge 60 litres zinc tub- and we have had deer, foxes and badgers using them.
OH got up yesterday to find our semi-tamed crow, 'Gamin' sitting in a large bowl of water on the lawn (lol, grass) as if he was in a jakuzzi. Went to get camera, but he was gone!
Just bought a child's sandpit at Lidl - it is shallow, but large enough to allow birds like swallows to scoop and drink. Will place a large stone in one corner, and another one on the outside next to it, so any bird or hedgehog that falls in will be able to get out.
I, too, have put out watering stations for the birds, hedgies, and whoever else happens thirstily by...
But a word of caution:
Standing water can be a Lepto risk for dogs if you live in an area where it is prevalent and have rodents in your garden.
The risk is fairly small in one's garden, but Lepto scares the bejaybus out of me so I am hyper vigilant - emptying plant saucers and shooing Heffalump away from bird baths or other rain collectors.
If you have a dog, just keep an eye out and don't let them access your watering stations.
(And of course, keep your dog's lepto vaxx up to date.) l
I change the water every day and wash the dishes as I think they become breeding grounds for mosquitos as well.
We don’t have a dog so I had no idea bout the lepto problem.
Thanks Meloncoliie. No dogs at the moment, and I change the water daily for all the bowls, etc.
"Our" amsel family (nesting in the hazelnut tree) has a daily bath in our majolica birdbath, and I change the water twice a day when I have to water pots and once a day when I don't. I see all kinds of little pawprints around it in the mornings, especially on hot days.
We have swifts, swallows and house martins here- they need to be able to scoop water in flight, so bowls of water just not sufficient, same for bats.
Can't wait to see them using the sand pit.
We have a long wild pond, but the liner is broken and we are waiting for the autumn for a nature group to come and psend the weekend here to replace the liner and enlarge. I keep topping up, but just not sufficient at the moment. We will use the sandpit to put all the mud from the bottom with all the dragonfly larvae, whilst we do the work. Loads of alpine newts, dragonflies and toads, and a huge variety of insects.