Baking For Birds

OK, so this blog is meant to be dedicated to the fine art of baking for humans, but I thought that today it would be interesting to look at some other craft-like stuff I have been getting up to.

Since moving back home, one of the joys of the day has been watching the wonderful array of wild birds that visit my parents' garden.  The visitors include Sparrows, Blackbirds, Robins (my favourite!) Blue Tits, Coal Tits, Great Tits, Chaffinches, Bullfinches, Greenfinches, Linnets, and even a Greater Spotted Woodpecker. Plus, there are a seemingly never-ending number of Starlings.

My parents' both love these garden-visitors, and for years have spoilt these birds rotten, buying a huge number of bird treats every single time they go to a garden centre.  The last two weeks, my parents have been in Norway and Iceland (they have such a hard life sometimes...), so I decided that this would be the perfect time to experiment with the bird treats. I thought that they would be fairly simple to make, and I was right. However, I still thought it best to have a look around online to see if I could find some guidance.

I found this blog post by movita beaucoup, and thought that it would be perfect, making a few small changes.

This is the sort of thing that I was aiming for:

Nice and tasty suet treat for all the little birdies...

Now obviously I was never going to get something that looked as perfect as this, but I was willing to take a shot at it.  First, I gathered together the items that were going to make up the bulk of the treat. I picked up a pack of mixed dried berries from good old Sainsburys, and chopped them up into smaller pieces. I mixed these in a bowl with some chopped (unsalted and un-roasted) peanuts, and some sunflower seed hearts.

Mmmm, delicious?

So I had my main filling sorted. Next was creating the fat that was going to hold the whole thing together. I decided to use some simple lard (all of 49p per block), and melt it down before adding it to the berry/nut mixture.

Oh good, lard.

I went right ahead and melted an entire block of lard in a medium-sized saucepan, on a low heat.

That's a lot of lard...

One thing I will say about this: melted lard absolutely STINKS. It smells truly awful, and I had to have the extractor fan on and all  the kitchen windows open in order to clear the smell. Thank goodness it melts quickly. The post by movita beaucoup calls for the addition of peanut butter at this stage, but the only peanut butter I had was a cheap basic one that is chock-full of salt. Excess salt is extremely bad for birds, so I decided to leave out the peanut butter until I can get hold of/make my own unsalted version.

Nicely melted. Still smelly.

The melted lard was then poured into the bowl with the berry and nut mixture, and stirred together to create a cohesive mixture. Before pouring this all out again, I made sure that the 'molds' were prepped. This molds consisted of a Tupperware container, and a small butter-dish lid. These were lined with clingfilm, to make it easier to remove the mixture once it had set.

Totally legitimate molds there.

The mixture was then poured out into the molds, and placed in the fridge to set.

Looks promising so far.

Once set, the clingfilm ensured that the treats were very easy to remove from the molds, and also to store in the fridge until they are needed.

Ta-dah! Completed bird treats.

I also created a second batch that had the addition of half a jar of honey, which I had read would be enjoyed by the birds.

Honey and lard - such a delicious combination.

I also added a great deal more berried to this mixture in the hope of creating a really sweet treat for the birds.

More berried, peanuts and sunflower seeds.

I also made the batch slightly bigger, so it produced double the number of treats.

Four bird-friendly treats.

Once the treats had set, I put one into one of our many, many bird treat holders, and hung it out on the bird table.

A square bird treat holder.

Our garden is an absolute paradise for wild birds, and they are thoroughly spoilt by my parents. I waited anxiously to see if the home-made treats were as successful and/or popular as the shop-bought ones.

So many bird-feeders and treats!

Well, I am very pleased to be able to tell you that the first treat was completely demolished within 24 hours, and that all the other home-made ones I have put out have followed suit. The treats that incorporated honey have proved to be very popular indeed. These treats are most popular with the Blackbirds, the Starlings, and the Robins, which makes me very happy indeed. I can definitely recommend having a go at making your own bird treats, as it's really very rewarding indeed when they are obviously enjoyed by so many of the birds.

Beckie.