Grosbeaks, bluejays, nuthatches, chickadees, red polls, and finches are some of the birds that frequent her bird feeders. Every month Redbush and family buy huge bags of striped sunflower seeds to fill their five bird feeder. They also buy a large amount of fat balls to keep these birds happy throughout the winter. They really are breaking the Redbush family! She is sure that they all tell each other that the place to be is in this yard, so, be sure to spread the message in the bird world! Redbush has tried making the fat balls, but unless you know what you are doing, the birds won't touch them. Apparently if the fat is too compact, it can actually glue the birds' beaks shut. Her suppliers tell her that the birds must be ecstatic in Redbush's yard. Occasionally, Redbush tries to be creative and attempts to make appetizers for them such as "Bejewelled Apples". She hollows out an apple and fills in with small seeds, cooked rice, and rehydrated fruit.
Magpies, nuisance birds in Redbush's yard, fly in regularly trying to pack off a fat ball from the fat ball holders and have succeeded on numerous occasions. When spotted by Bonzi, he bounds off after them to warn them them that those fat balls are for his little bird friends, so, paws off, or rather beaks off, or maybe talons off! He gives chase because Redbush has taught him that they are, "dirty birdies". For all you bird lovers out there, Redbush will leave you with a recipe for treats for your birds. She has also attempted to load a few pictures of her wild bird population. Redbush wonders what kind of birds visit your yard?
Cranberry Terrine
Place a layer of rehydrated cranberries into the base of an individual oval pan. Drape
a length of string so that it will emerge from the top for hanging.
Pour over just enough white fat to secure berries into place. Leave to cool.
When cool, add more melted fat to form another layer. Cool again. Add the next layer
of berries. Secure with a little melted fat Leave to set.
12 comments:
I don't think I can bear to share my dried cranberries with the birds, but I must find something to tempt them to the feeders. Apparently out here, with all the woods and fields, what I've been feeding for ten years at the old house is about as attractive as yesterday's salad bar. After the ice storm, when the trees and ground were all coated with an inch or more of ice, the feeders got used by juncos, chickadees, sparrows, and cardinals (in the order they arrived) but as soon as the ice melted they were gone.
I love that you make special treats for the birds! What a kind soul you are. :)
Hi Solarity! It sounds like the birds have enough delicious food in the wilderness around your place. We rarely see cardinals, but my hubby says he has seen them here. I don't really have too much of an imagination as to what to attract them with. We have cedar waxwings landing in flocks on our mountain ash trees in the fall to feed on the red berries. The ice storms must reallly take a toll on things. Do you have them a lot?
Thanks for stopping by Tink! I rarely do make treats, and sometimes when I spend some time inventing some, I might have well have saved the energy because they're not really interested. I just enjoy watching them at the feeders. It's good therapy!
I must get a mountain ash tree so I can attract more birds to my yard! The redpolls are flitting around here like crazy in the nasty cold weather we're having...
Bag Lady, in the weather we're having, I don't know how birds can even care about anything but shelter. But, the cedar waxwings, when you can catch them travel in droves, and really are a sight to see when they all land on the tree at once. Lately it's the pine grosbeaks that we see a lot of. The bluejays seem to come all year long, squeaking and squawking!
I wish we could entice pine grosbeaks to our yard. We've had some evening grosbeaks in the past, but they've largely ignored us for the past two years.
We put out peanuts and peanut butter which brings in the woodpeckers. And occasionally tempts the local squirrel.
The redpolls are finally deigning to show up.
We've had huge flock of house sparrows hanging around the neighborhood this year. I think it's discouraged some of the regulars. We've got some faithful chickadees, the occasional nuthatch, waxwings, and we've got a blue jay that tries his luck at the feeders.
We're off to the poorhouse soon, but at least the birds are well-fed.
Oh Maaaannnn..... this is my first visit to your blog, and I am sooooo enamored. I miss the birds so much! I live in a high rise, and if we ever see a bird out on our balcony, we go tearing through the apartment to spread the news. It happens like once in every three years. Though we do get good views of flocks of monk parakeets in the warm months...down below, not up this high.
Fat balls?? My mom used to put out pieces of suet, which the birds would peck to death, but I've never heard of fat balls. And I, too, used to wonder how in the world they didn't freeze to death, such tiny little things you'd think their little body heats and residual warmth would be no use.
The most interesting birds we get where I'm staying right now (with my mother in law, in California) is a huge flock of wild turkeys. Those are gigantic, loud, lumbering, hilarious birds! They crack me up whenever they wander by. And the cat doesn't know whether to stalk them or flee from them... they're about three times as big as she is, but they're birds, so she gets mighty confused.
Hi Leah! We find that the pine grosbeaks leave when summer comes, and the evening ones start coming in the summer. We feed our birds all year long and as you say, it's hard on the budget! I read in a bird book if you put out whole peanuts with the shell and don't attach them somehow that the adults will try to feed them to their little ones and they could choke to death. We have put whole ones out on occasion, but, not anymore! I imagine that you see a larger variety of birds being that you're farther south than us. Yes, the bird popualtion here is well fed!
Thanks for visiting, Melissa! I can't imagine living in a high rise, but, you would have a much better view than the rest of us! You'll have to set up your own personal little feeder on your balcony! Fat balls are just round suet balls that have been mixed with bird seeds, about 3 inches in diameter.They go after them vigorously especially in the cold weather. The bluejays can pack a lot away in no time!
Thanks for stopping, Crabby! I'm thinking that you have one brave cat there! I remember when I was a just a kid, my parents raising tame ones. They were scary enough when they got cantankerous! But, we used to have tame geese that would run up behind us if we were bent over trying to get water out of the dugout, and would pinch us in the butt! You know what happened then!
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