I have set up in my bird station 3 different baths. They have different heights, different locations, and different habitats. On the ground is 1 large bath, another on a rock pedestal about 2 1/2 feet off the ground, and another on a stump that is a little over a foot high, surrounded by vegetation.

All of the baths are filled with cement(Florida masonry) so that the water level at the center is 1 1/4 inches deep and tapers up to very shallow edges. I have even had birds bathe on an upside down flat clay saucer with a sheet of water on it. Different birds like different depths but none like it deep. Remember, they are not ducks!

Some birds never get in the baths, but prefer to bathe in the mist or rub themselves on wet leaves. The pileated woodpeckers come when it is really dry and flop around on the wet grass where the mist has floated to. They will also drink droplets of water from the leaves. The birds love the mist so much that they will come to it even while it's raining.

I have two misters in the bird station that can run together or independently. I tapped into the water line that runs to the house. One mister comes off of a pipe that is joined to the water line and the other mister is on the end of a hose that comes from an on/off valve(faucet) and runs under ground to the back of a large log. I have a shut off valve that allows me to turn off the mister on the pipe.

You will notice that as more time goes on the more plants you will move into your bird station. This happened to me. After a while I noticed I had many beautiful plants but the whole birdstation was a "sea of green". It all seemed to blend together. I tried to think of a way to bring about some different color and different texture. I don't have a lot of options when it comes to flowers as there is much shade in my station. The same applies to variegated plants. There is one though that I remembered loved shade and does really well in this area; the variegated hydrangea. It can grow large or you can cut it back heavily "and" it blooms. This plant has provided a great deal of visual interest to my birdstation.

Seed is put out on a platform feeder. It is a wooden frame with a screen bottom to allow water to pass through. A platform feeder has no "view obstructing" sides, roof, or seed holding container to hinder your view of the bird. One disadvantage is large birds such as crows and jays can land easily and feed heavily from a tray.

I buy seed in seperate parts; sunflower seed, white millet, and cracked corn, depending on what is feeding and what proportions are being consumed. For example, I feed much more millet in the winter than in the summer since there are more species that consume millet at the feeder.

Birds that come for seed include towhees, goldfinches, pine siskins, purple finches, sparrows, cardinals, doves, chickadees, titmice, woodpeckers, blue jays, thrashers, mocking birds, and wrens and nuthatches which like the cracked corn.

I make my own "suet" by purchasing processed lard at Harvey's and Winn Dixie, and corn meal. I do not add seeds or peanut butter because of the squirrels. Melt the lard in a shallow pan and then stir in the corn meal. Stir in as much corn meal as the lard will take. Flatten it in the pan. You should see no grease. It will almost look like bright yellow cake. Cool the suet till firm but not hard and cut it in the pan by drawing a knife from side to side and top to bottom. I then freeze it. When it is frozen take it out of the freezer turn it upside down and pop out the squares. I store it in a container either in the freezer or the fridge. This suet stays pretty sterile outside. It is eaten quickly. I place it on the tray where it really vanishes or in a suet holder.

Birds that come to feed on suet are woodpeckers, nuthatches, brown thrashers, wrens, blue jays, hermit thrushes, warblers, even those seed loving cardinals, chickadees, and titmice.