I’ve been using bird feeder cameras for years, and new avian health warnings had me worried for the summer months — but this smart bird bath alternative, along with expert advice, will let me get my garden bird-watching fix responsibly

If, like me, you're blessed with a garden at home, chances are you do your bit to look after local birdlife by putting out feed. I'd been doing it for years when I enhanced my experience with one of the best bird feeder cameras.

Since buying the charming garden gadget, I've been providing visiting birds seed and other sustenance, plus enjoying a close-up view of them, from anywhere, in real time, through a companion app on my phone, with notifications, bird identification and photo and video recordings to boot.

Recently, however, I discovered that I could be doing more harm than good to the birds that visit the feeder, especially over warmer months. That's according to the UK's RSPB, which issued a warning about the spread of avian disease, along with advice for responsible use of bird feeders.

"We’re not asking people to stop feeding, just to feed in a way that protects birds", said the RSPB, which includes ensuring feeders are regularly cleaned and that seed in the tray is fresh.

Such a message, however, leads me to further appreciate another bird camera that I recently tested, and it's one that still resides in my garden today, the Birdfy Bird Bath Pro.

• Check out some of the best gadgets to watch nature in your garden, from $20

Keep it clean

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The RSPB advises that bird tables and flat-surfaced feeders should be permanently removed. For other feeders, like my bird feeder camera which is fixed to a tree, parasitic diseases can also fester in warm weather — the RSPB cites a huge decline in the UK's greenfinch and chaffinch population chiefly from the fatal trichomonosis disease.

So long as users regularly clean the seed tray, and seed is added little and often so it stays fresh, it should be okay to keep using a bird feeder camera year-round. Rather than risk harming my local birdlife, however, I recently removed my bird feeder camera as the warm weather set in, and I will likely put it back up come November. Until then, I can provide mealworms and suet balls, plus I have the Birdfy Bird Bath Pro in place.

The bird bath has proved to be a refreshingly different way of watching my garden birdlife, as they drink, splash and preen. And I can imagine that, when the weather gets truly hot, it could become a popular spot for my feathered friends to cool off.

For the time being, however, my experience with the Bird Bath Pro has been mixed. It hasn't attracted nearly the number of visitors as my previously adjacent bird feeder camera did — turns out that birds, just like my kids, are more attracted to food than washing!

And it's not perfect yet. Some of the Bird Bath Pro's smart features need a little work, including its unique subject-tracking portrait camera, which can move from side to side to track the birds as they move around the bath, but which can miss the mark. I also get a lot of false alarm notifications.

To be clear, there's also still a responsibility on my side to keep the Bird Bath Pro clean, just like I would a feeder. If water in its basin is left sitting, it gets filled with dirt and bird poo, and eventually start to green over, and in turn put the health of visiting birds at risk. I've made it a regular habit to clean the basin and top it up with fresh water.

But for me, the Bird Bath Pro has become my primary bird camera for warm weather, which is practically half of the year, and an excellent foil to my bird feeder camera until the cold winter sets in. If you like garden bird-watching year round, it could be an essential gadget for your home.

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