I put a deck-mounted birdbath out back last Saturday, although I wasn’t sure if anything was going to visit it–I’ve had no luck with birdfeeders in the backyard, so I thought it just wasn’t a high-traffic area. Still, open water when it’s cold is important to the little birdies.

The red-shouldered hawk that I startled out of the birdbath a minute ago offers another possible reason for the lack of small-bird traffic.

Goodness! Never got a bird of prey at a birdbath before! I wish I’d caught him drinking, that would have been AWESOME. Well, more awesome. It was pretty damn awesome already.