Our favorite winter birdbath is the Kozy Bird Spa. Comes with a pedestal, which the cord goes up through.
The heating element is built into the bowl. The cord plugs in from inside the pedestal.
Our birds love it. This photo, taken at Birdwatching Dot Com, is the same bath shown at left, but in the deep of winter.
Inexpensive binoculars
Everyone interested in watching wild birds deserves her or his very own binoculars.
A good binocular for getting started does not have to be expensive, but it should have good optical quality.
The Vortex Crossfire 8x42 is lightweight and waterproof. It focuses as close as 6 feet, and it works well even for a person who wears glasses. It costs only $139.99