It has been miserable here today with gusting wind and horizontal rain. Now and then we see leaves zipping by our windows at a rate of knots. That will be more fodder for our leaf mould bin. Its gaping mouth seems incapable of being filled. Well, right then--while the Bride is peeling parsnips for tonight's din-din, I shall post a couple of piccies of this afternoon's home project-- making balls to feed the birds with. Making the mix: 2 blocks of veggie fat for deep-frying a basic general seed mix sunflower seeds oatmeal raisins thin almond shavings crunchy peanut butter First the veg. fat was melted, then the mix was dumped into it and allowed to cool: Later later a long cooling period, I hand-shaped the balls. Here's a load in the fridge: Here's hoping the lottie birdies will be as enthusiastic about them this year as they were last.
That is a terrific recipe. I used to feed the birds but here lately bears are attracted to the feeders so now I no longer put feed out as I'm not wanting to find the fence tore down OR 'somebody' cruising the backyard looking for more!
We are in such a moderate zone that I just feed the chopped corn all winter ! Everyone seems to like it ! Well,, except the mockingbirds ! They stay with the old poke berries and whatever they can find !
We have three suet feeders out. The local hardware store calls us when the suet cakes are on sale, and we get the all-purpose, no melt kind and have them out all winter. All the birds seem to enjoy them. My husband uses scrap lumber and odd bits of hardware cloth to make the feeders.
Sjoerd, do you just leave the balls out for the birds or put them in some kind if holder? Marlingardener, I like your suet holder. Well done! Islandlife, we have the same problem with bears where we live too. But we wait until they go into hibernation. I do love watching the birds come to the feeders and really look forward to the feeders going up!
@Cayuga Morning - Our bears here may or may not go completely into hibernation. In the "good old days" they all always seemed to hibernate but now they're sometimes around at really odd times. Three had to be trapped this past late winter/early spring when they should have been sleeping.
I buy those jars of peanut butter and seed. We have one fairly high up. There's another fixed to the low curtain wall to the left of the patio under the azalias about 6 inches off the ground.
Doghouse, I've never seen a feeder shaped like that! Do the birds go into it to get the last bits when the jar is almost empty? We have plastic "jars" that I could pack with peanut butter and seeds and put out for the birds, as a supplement to the suet cakes. I'll show your photo to my husband, and perhaps we could make "slings" for the jars out of something we have on hand, like chicken wire.
Doghouse, thank you for the reply. My husband took a look at the feeder, decided the "sling" could be made from some left-over plastic fencing we have, and of course I'm now saving plastic jars! We'll see if our birds adjust to the different configuration. If there is food involved, they most likely will adjust quickly!
CAYU-- I put them in a protected situation. I have a wire silo and a bird feeder that has mesh wire around it to let only the small birds in. We have a lot of trouble with jackdaws, woodpeckers and magpies. Thanks ISLAND--Sorry to hear about your interlopers. Glad you like the recipe though. MART--Sounds like you've got your birds covered. JANE--That is a perfect holder for the suet cake. Cool that there was a wren on it when the camera clicked.\
