Day 16.295: Ice bath

Yesterday morning we woke to this:

In case it's not obvious what I'm commenting on, this was after I had started attending to the situation:

Yes, the bird bath had a thin but significant layer of ice on it. The timing surprised us by a day or two but - as you may be saying to yourself - this is somewhat inevitable in Maine at this time of year.

Indeed, we had planned for just this by buying a bird bath with a built in heater that is supposed to keep it above freezing. We'll see how it copes with the depths of winter, but it certainly kept the water liquid through last night.