I put together a fountain in the back yard several months ago. It looks like this picture, taken in early spring, except that now two pieces of bamboo cross the top and hold the tube in place vertically between them.
This morning I saw from the kitchen window that the bamboo and copper apparatus that holds the water tube was pushed far to one side. It could have been a raccoon climbing up to wash something that did it. But while I was eating breakfast I heard a squawk, so I went back to the window. Two starlings were perched on the edges of the pot. One at a time I saw them jump into the water and paddle across by flapping. They both did it several times. The shallowest rock is about six inches underwater so I know they were not walking on the rock.
Updated to add a video--a starling came along for another swim and I had the camera ready. I also got some ditzy young robins trying to figure out how to get a bath. They don't want to swim.
Starlings and robins taking bath in my fountain from Fran Mason on Vimeo
Starlings must be pretty bright birds. They imitate the calls of other birds and seem to have the ability to learn and copy each other's actions, too. Robins, maybe not so bright?
My fountain is doomed to cloudiness. If I can think of a way to attach a shallow dish, with the water flowing in and out, I'll turn the whole thing into a birdbath fountain. It's unlikely I'll beat them so I might as well join them. Part of the charm of a "water feature" is to attract "wildlife." I think our wildlife is not blue herons and green frogs, but crows, starlings, robins, squirrels, and definitely raccoons. (We also have chickadees, juncos, hummingbirds, dragonflies, flickers, and other civilized visitors who do not cloud the water.)
A while back the water in the fountain went down overnight to six or eight inches below the top. Mud surrounded the pot, and the bamboo/copper apparatus was five feet away on the ground. A feather floated in the water. Had a bird of prey splashed in while taking a pigeon? When I looked closer, I saw muddy claw prints up one side. The water was disgustingly cloudy. I decided a raccoon must have climbed up to use the water and fell in--the rim is really slick. I think it was his big cannonball splash that made the water go down that time.
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