Well, it worked! I just put water in the bird bath. So, of course, less than a minute after coming back into the house, it started raining! Hallelujah. Could it be that we'll get a day of soaking rain?

When it's dry, more birds visit the bird bath in our backyard. I enjoy watching the goldfinches, who suddenly dive down at a 70 degree angle, as if the bird bath is a target, darting to a landing. Then, after they've sipped a few times, off they go in a flash, on an uneven flight, gaining and losing 10 feet of altitude at a time. The doves are much different: fat, wide-bodied. You can almost hear the "plop" when they land on the lip of the bird bath. They stay longer. Are they needing to rest? Finally, when they take off, it's such an effort to get airborne that they let out a "cheep" of exertion!