Avian Testimonials

Early this week, with the ground dry and parched and the temperature plunging like an elevator in free-fall, the birds at our feeders were ravenous. It seemed like a good time to mix up some suet.

Suet is easy to make. Here's my recipe:

1 cup lard
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup oatmeal
2 cups unsalted sunflower seeds, shelled
1 cup flaxseed meal or yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup raisins

Melt the lard and peanut butter in a large saucepan, and mix in the other ingredients. Spoon into molds (I used the bottom 2 inches of plastic cups), press the mix together, and freeze. Sometimes, I also press the mix into pinecones.

When the suet was frozen and out of the molds, I made a hole with a skinny nail through the center of each one, then threaded a thin wire through the hole, and hung them in a tree near our feeder, where the birds were sure to notice them.

It's always nice when your cooking is appreciated. 

When the food is devoured and they come back for more, it's better than 5 stars on the internet.

Consider these photos visual testimonials.

Of course, there's Winterberry for desert.

Linking with Wild Bird Wednesday

and Saturday's Critters

Birds and Berries

The air turned sharply colder yesterday, 

and birds came to the feeder in a steady stream.

A winterberry branch, propped above the feeder, provided a good perch.

Cardinals eat the berries, stripping away the shiny skin faster than you can blink. 

Titmice, and the other small birds, haven't tried the berries yet, to my knowledge...

they're more interested in the sunflower seeds below.

Blue jays put in an appearance,

 and, as is customary, there was a short squabble...

but this time the victor was worried.

"Did I make her mad?"

Linking with Wild Bird Wednesday

and Camera Critters

Barley Gets His Bounce Back

There's something nice about late fall. 

The landscape, exhausted from the exuberance of spring, 

and the productivity of summer,

 has donned its tawny nightgown, and lounges on the couch.

 Oak leaves, despite their tatters, still cling tenaciously to the trees...

and mullein leaves, tired of supporting tall flower stalks,

crumple like wrung out dishrags on the ground.

Barley loves this time of year;

the cooler air puts a new spring in his feet,

and makes him eager to explore.

Winterberry trees brings a touch of color to the earth.

The birds eat the berries, 

posing as living Christmas cards, 

and remind us that it won't be fall for long.

"As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night will never cease."

Genesis 8:22

Thanks to Leslie Nicole for the texture, Opaline.

Linking with Weekly Top Shot
and Camera Critters

Birds and Berries in Black and White

Breakfast of Champions

Light and Shadow

In the chill morning air, Barley and I head for the hollow.  Along the trail, most of the trees, still in the shadows, dangle their drab leaves like discarded remnants.  Near the creek bed, now devoid of water, Winterberry trees already display their Christmas finery. Their lavish crop, ready for harvest, attracts small birds, who wait in the limbs overhead for us to pass.  Barley's attention is riveted by some new smell on the trail, and he gives it his full attention while I click a few shots with my Nikon.  

On our return, a brilliant wild Red Maple tree west of the trail, 

now backlit by the rising sun, catches my eye.  

The same tree, not long before, had gone unnoticed.  

What a difference the light makes.

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.

-Helen Keller

I have come as Light into the world, 

so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.

-Jesus