FAT BALLS, BIRDS, and SUPER-LONG ICICLES
Despite it now being officially spring and despite it being only a couple of days until Easter's Good Friday, the snow is still falling, the air is still freezing, and the birds still need feeding. There are icicles about 24 inch long hanging from my home's gutters that look exquisitely beautiful, like crystal, not to mention lethal. I've knocked them all down once as they are suspended over a path, but they have formed once again. Meanwhile, the birds continue to free-jock (eat for free) in my garden, taking advantage of my soft heart.
Interestingly, the thrushes still go for the fat balls which I have hung in orange netting (that once held clementines from the supermarket) on the washing line, despite the fact that there is one in a tray just on the ground below. I do realise that it is suggested that birds can get tangled up in netting but I keep a close eye on the birds and ensure that the net remains tight around the contents.
Below is an image of my home-made fat ball for birds. I melted 500g of beef lard in a big pan and then let it cool and start to solidify. I then stirred in lots of raisins, wild-bird seed, and oats until most of the fat was taken up by the ingredients. As the cool ingredients hit the fat, it started to solidify and this is the point where I scooped up good portions of the mixture and squashed it into hard balls. The mixture made 6 large balls, bigger than the shop bought kind. Do not feed desiccated coconut, porridge, and uncooked rice to birds. The coconut and rice can swell in their stomachs and kill them. Porridge can solidify around a bird's beak, like concrete. Cooked rice, however, is ok, as is raw oats according to the RSPB. Please check the RSPB link for sound advice on feeding wild birds.
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| Home made fat ball for birds |
