It's been unseasonably cold here for the last few weeks, and everybody knows that when it gets cold, you need to eat something nice and greasy. That goes for the birds as well. Winter is the best time to feed birds suet since they are more in need of the calories and in the Summer the darned stuff melts and just drips away. We could buy our suet, but in the spirit of the early bird-watching pioneers I decided to try my hand at making a batch. Fortunately for me I had to cook up a pound of bacon to get the necessary grease for the suet. After eating the bacon and then resting several hours, I re-heated the bacon grease, mixed it with some bird seed and poured the mixture into an old foil dish. Using my not inconsiderable woodworking skills, I constructed a suet holder and mounted this whole mess outside. That's what you see in the picture hanging from the metal arm that's attached to the deck railing. The suet has had less success than I'd hoped for although the woodpeckers seem to enjoy it. That's a male hairy woodpecker pecking away at it in the photo. (They're called "hairy" woodpeckers because they refuse to shave...even the females.) A couple of squirrels have tried the suet as well, but none of the chickadees or other birds besides the woodpeckers seem interested. Not sure why that is. On the next go-around I'll melt some peanut butter in with the lard and see if that's not more to the birds' taste.
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