Picture this for a moment. You are sitting on the back patio enjoying a glass of Chardonnay. You look up, and less than 6 feet away, suddenly a purple finch is having a drink or a bath at your bird bath/fountain. What a photo op!!!
This is so easy. That is the saucer of a large porcelain/brick/adobo pot, mounted on the back patio railing. First, screw a piece of wood (like 1 x 2, or 2 x 2) on back of deck rail, the width of your shelf, dropped down so that your shelf will be level with the rail. Screw the one end of the shelf into that 1 x 2 or 2 x 2. One more easy step. You will need a shelf brace, made from a deck ballister, or 2 x 2, piece of metal, whatever, to be attached to the outside end of the shelf, running in at an angle about 16" down, to complete the shelf brace and keep it level. Easy-peazy! Now, let's make it into a running bird/bath fountain! Assuming you have an outside electrical outlet on your patio, you will need a small aquarium pump, and about 6' of plastic 1/4" tubing (whatever fits the pump outlet) and an extension cord. If using an extension cord, you will have to be able to jam it through the patio deck directly under the outlet. If there is not enough space between the first deck board and the house, drill a whole big enough to push the stubby plug end through. Then go under your deck, and take it out to just below the bird bath fountain. Affix it to the under side of the deck (string, ties, cord, etc). Put some pebbles/rocks in the saucer, (be creative) and intertwine one end of the plastic tubing into your creation, and take the other down to your pump, which you have hung under the deck also. Make an anti-syphon loop in the tubing just above pump level. Just a loop, so that if the power goes off, water will not syphon down into the air outlet on the pump. Easy. Then enclose the pump in a plastic baggy and tape it to keep it sheilded from the elements. Note: Tape the extension/pump plug connection with electrical tape, for the same reason. Note: I have mine on a timer, so it starts in the morning and shuts off at dusk. If I can create this, so can you!! Cheers!
