Thursday Evening

[nightdog_barks]

The sun never came out today. :-(

But! I got out and went to the store for a few things, including a couple more suet blocks for the birds. The blocks look like this, although the brand my grocery store carries is different and they sure don't cost $2.95 -- the ones I get are 99 cents. You take the suet block out of the plastic tub (easier if you've put it in the freezer overnight), stick it in the wire cage-thing and hang the cage-thing from a branch. I put an old one out yesterday and it attracted a woodpecker (a small one -- a downy or hairy) and a chickadee.

Also saw more white-winged doves today, a House Finch, some little guys that are probably American Goldfinches (they don't turn golden until summer), and some tiny little finch that was sort of a nondescript olive-greenish color. I have no idea what it was.

So, anyway. Hoping to write a little tonight. In the meantime, here's a lovely article from the NY Times on Christmas crèches.

Comments

[takes-a-fairy.livejournal.com]

I don't know what's in suet, but the other ingredients sounds much like human's trail mix...just add a few chocolate chips! *g*

Thanks for posting the article. I only bothered with the "more photos" section for now...too tired to read that much at the moment.

I'll be back to say "Howdy!" tomorrow. *yawns and stretches*

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

Suet is beef fat, but supposedly it's not the same kind of fat that's trimmed off of steaks. I've read about folks making their own suet blocks and using lard. Ewww on all counts. And yeah, it's something like high-energy trail mix for birds! *g*

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

I used to make a homemade version by melting peanut butter and some vegetable shortening together, and then mixing in plain cornmeal and birdseed until it made a kind of stiff dough. We'd shape it into balls and hang them up in the trees in plastic mesh bags that oranges came in.

The squirrels quickly learned to tear open the bags and gorge on the stuff. We had the world's fattest squirrels that winter!

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

Heh! So far the squirrels haven't bothered the suet block or the bird feeder. I'm just waiting, though. In the past there have been times when I'd hear a thump! and open the back door to see Mr. Squirrel sitting on top of the feeder, and I'd yell at him, and the little son of a bitch would just blink back at me.

Bastards. Hee.