My Life With the Birds

We have a suet feeder with suet in it... hanging on the deck. The bird feeder is next to it. Everyday we had woodpeckers of many kinds, chickadees, nuthatches feeding on the suet. Then we ran out and I went shopping for more. I bought a case, thinking that I would use it all winter. I found a place in my cabinet for all the packages, right near the patio door. I filled the feeder...no one came. We ate lunch and a red bellied woodpecker came and checked it out. He turned around and flew away as fast as he could. The little birds did likewise. I guess that they don't like the suet. It isn't an off brand...can't recall the name, but it is a popular brand with colorful bird pictures on the label. Joe and I were talking about making suet balls in the past. He as a meat cutter, and I made them for my freezer one year. I got suet from the meat counter and went home and put peanut butter with it and birdseed. I shaped it into balls and wrapped in plastic wrap and stored them in the freezer. Joe ground suet at the Jewel and they mixed it with bird seed and rolled it into balls and sold it in the meat counter. I decided to trick the birds. I went out to the garage and got the oriole feeder, brought it in, broke up a suet cake, and filled the little cup with the suet mixture. I put a different cake of suet in the suet feeder....one with fruit in it. Now, we'll see what happens tomorrow morning.

Tweety update:

I think that Tweety may be a female...she's busy today building a nest. I have watched her off and on all day, pulling the paper up from the bottom of her cage and carrying one piece at a time to her nesting basket. It was such a struggle for her, because most of the time she dropped it on the way, so I cut some paper up and put it in a little dish...she dumped the dish out. Then I just put it in her nest...she has taken each piece out and dropped it on the floor of the cage. I seems that no one wants to cooperate today.

Balisha