Time to keep the suet handy

beegood_gw

15 years ago

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Comments (8)

donald lucius
15 years ago
great picture. here we have had only one snow shower that melted in a few hours.but lots of cold temps. nites in the teens and twentys and days in the 30's and 40' so a few juncos and some chickadees and nuthatches are showing up. but nothing like when the snow starts sticking. I have both suet blocks and sorghum blocks hanging but not a lot of the winter birds yet to enjoys them.
paulsiu
15 years ago
Great picture. The Downy in my area have already made short works of the suet blocks. Didn't even last the whole week (not sure why the Red Belly ignore the block though).

I had to move the suet block like 3 times. The other two location got rip down and eaten, probably by Raccoons.

Paul
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Comments (16)
I make my suet mixture using suet or lard. I melt the fat in a glass bowl in the microwave until liquid. Then I add crunchy peanut butter, which melts in the hot fat. Then I add the dried ingredients - corn meal, flour, oats (usually ground in blender), ground eggshells, crushed nuts, a little jam or jelly, etc. The mixture is about 1/2 fat, 1/2 dried ingredients - maybe a little more dried. I aim for a mixture that is the texture of Play-doh - it clumps together easily for the suet log, but also crumbles into pieces that I spread in a tray feeder. I made the suet log over 3 years ago out of an old red Pine log and glued lots of perches and branches. It did not have much bark on it - which is fine, except that over time the log has darkened quite a bit, perhaps because of the oils in the suet mixture. Also, most of the perches and branches have broken and fallen off. This birds don't seem to care. If you put perches on the log, this will enable many more birds to eat more easily. However, this isn't necessarily a good thing because with mine, it enables the Starlings and Blue Jays to hog the suet log, and it encourages House Sparrows. My suet log is pole-mounted with a squirrel/raccoon baffle, so nothing gets onto the log but the birds. Here's what the suet mixture looks like - Some Bluebirds on the suet log a couple years ago. They don't eat that much on the suet log any more, because I usually spread crumbles in a tray for them.
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I found this on sialis.com : " I got an e-mail from someone who made a homemade halo out of one of those umbrella hats you can buy at a dollar store. They attached the line, using duct tape between every two lines to keep them from getting tangled. It worked like a charm, and for the first time birds normally intimidated by HOSP are visiting the feeder. She also said it worked to deter starlings from a suet feeder."
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Comments (13)
Thanks for the response, Jim! The other day I mixed up some peanut butter, cornmeal(organic), a bit of bacon grease, a bit of molasses, some chopped apple, and made what I call "dough balls" like we used to for fish bait. It held together well, so I put about 4 golf ball size chunks in the wire suet feeder. Even the HOSPs are climbing all over that wire feeder to get to the dough balls. I also bought some regular popcorn (not microwave; nothing in it) that I thought I would fix and toss out on the ground for the ground feeding birds. Right now I am not able to get to the store to get seed. OKC had 14 inches of snow (unprecedented for us) and we are definitely not prepared for snow of this magnitude. We usually get ice that melts the next day, but it is going to be so cold for the next 10 days or so, so not much melting anticipated. Just trying to think up things I have available in the pantry to feed the birds. Appreciate all the good info I am getting on this forum! Susan
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Comments (17)
Glenda...I'm sorry; I didn't intend for the "onion bag suggestion" come across wrong. I know your Mom's were the fiber ones. I've used them, too. I just wanted to share what I'd read about the new onion bags. I was surprised to learn they're made of plastic now. I buy my onions loose, and hadn't really paid attention to how the newer bags are made. I have noticed plastic "burlap" bags at the feed store. That really blew my mind. I think you're just about the sweetest person sitting at the table. I always look for your posts and responses. I hope you know I'd never intentionally say anything to hurt your feelings. It wasn't meant that way... Big hugs!
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sally41
15 years ago
we get no snow at all here.we get a hard freeze a few days of the year so our birds dont have a hard time with food.
i still put out plenty of suet.the red bellied woodpeckers and warblers eat it but the pileateds refuse to come for a visit and they are my favorite bird!!
beegood_gw
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanx everyone. There are 2 of them. On the tree the female is on the left and the the male on the right lower down. You can see the red cheek on him. That is basically the only differance.
bandjzmom
15 years ago
Oh, you lucky thing you! We do have Pileateds in the woods across the street. I see and hear them from time to time, but I have not ever seen them in my yard. Not sure that I could draw them in with a feeder. Maybe I will buy a large one and try. I do get Downy Wp's, Red-bellied Wp's, and an occasional Yellow-bellied Sapsucker here.
anna_lisa
15 years ago
my suet is ready for them just did one this morning will do another one tomorrow will also buy some i think it will last longer i put mine along the closth line then just pull it in when I need to refill
glaswegian
15 years ago
Do you ever get squirrels bothering them?
rachel_frome_ky
15 years ago
That is so cool having Pileateds hanging around posing for photos. Ours were too jittery

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116

Time to keep the suet handy

Comments (8)

donald lucius

paulsiu

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sally41

beegood_gw
Original Author

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anna_lisa

glaswegian

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Time to keep the suet handy

Comments (8)

donald lucius

paulsiu

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sally41

beegood_gwOriginal Author

bandjzmom

anna_lisa

glaswegian

rachel_frome_ky

COMPANY

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beegood_gw
Original Author