Date: 6/13/26 2:28 pm From: Abigail Lambert <000009a17188b696-dmarc-request...> Subject: Re: Bubbler Data near Smithville Lake and Construction Suggestions....
FYI. Not sure I can send on listserve but here is Link to Video about building bubbler, highlighting Margy Terpstra's bubbler. Additional option/idea.
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How to Create a Bubbler Water Featureyoutu.be
Abigail Lambert Brentwood, MO.
On Jun 13, 2026, at 3:47 PM, Lisa Saffell <0000065c370fac8c-dmarc-request...> wrote:
Excellent Terry! Birders who don’t have a moving water source and a trail camera don’t have any idea what they are missing! :) Lisa Saffell, St. Louis
On Jun 13, 2026, at 1:37 PM, Terry Miller <000009a0b0d4f681-dmarc-request...> wrote: Greetings fellow birders,
I am making this post as I believe many of you, after reading it, will be interested in setting up your own bubbler?
Last Spring (2025), my good friend and colleague Mike Niles wanted to put up a solar bubbler along a tree line in the field behind my house. I readily agreed and my property borders Smithville Lake in Clinton Co., MO. Being solar, it was only having water flow for 3-5 hours a day if it wasn’t overly cloudy. We have it operating from early Spring until October but occasionally it was not operating for various reasons. We set a game camera up to take short 30 second videos. And we have hundreds of videos!
To date we have videos of 41 species of birds…and a few squirrels and raccoons. I will list them after comments by Mike Niles on some aspects of our bubbler set-up:
Bubbler/Bath is an old utility sink (donated and I built a 2 x 4 frame to hold it up) with a metal wire “shelf” over the opening. Then added a bathing dish, a solar pump (keep under 120 gph, only want a trickle of water – DEPENDS on how high you are pumping the water up) and rocks. The gurgling occurs especially as the water overflows the bathing dish/pan into the sink below. I like the “utility sink” because it has a plug for EASY water changing every 2-3 weeks! (If you have access to electricity, a non-solar pump would be great because the solar pump is only running about 3 – 4 hours per day)
I have uploaded 10 videos to Flickr and, if you just want to look at a 3-4, I would suggest the ones titled:
I hope you enjoyed this post and are encouraged to set up your own bubbler!
The List of 41 Species alphabetically:
1. American Goldfinch2. American Robin3. Baltimore Oriole4. Black-capped Chickadee5. Blue Grosbeak6. Bluejay7. Brown-headed Cowbird8. Brown Thrasher9. Canada Warbler10. Cedar Waxwing11. Chipping Sparrow12. Dark-eyed Junco13. Eastern Bluebird14. Eastern Phoebe 15. Eastern Screech Owl16. Eastern Towhee17. European Starling18. Gray Catbird19. Harris’s Sparrow 20. House Finch21. House Sparrow22. Indigo Bunting23. Nashville Warbler24. Northern Cardinal25. Northern Flicker26. Orange-crowned Warbler27. Palm Warbler28. Purple Finch29. Red-winged Blackbird30. Ruby-throated Hummingbird31. Rose-breasted Grosbeak32. Song Sparrow33. Summer Tanager34. Swainson’s Thrush35. Tufted Titmouse36. Red-eyed Vireo37. White-crowned Sparrow38. White-throated Sparrow39. Wilson’s Warbler40. Northern Yellow Warbler41. Yellow-rumped Warbler Terry L. MillerPlattsburg, <MOmillert832...> www.millerstaxidermy.net Follow me on Instagram: terryl.miller "Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made." Romans 1:20 "The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder." G.K. Chesterton
