Hobbies and Crafts

so many good ideas on here I hope our feathered friends appreciate the help they have received from GR..(Not actually the reason the site was conceived but very useful.). I now have a bowl waiting for more fat from the roast chicken tomorrow so i can make another fat ball for the ever hungry starlings.
SueM you are very dilligent with your scraps.
Ann
glos

Aww Bellblair.....lovely to see you, l can just imagine your back garden:o))

Fancy having pheasants knocking on the backdoor!! how close do they really get??

Good to see you:o)

jude xxxx

Hi Folks just been reading through, Santa brought me a large bag of Bird seed, so now I have fat balls, shredded suet, dried friut, cheese and mealy worms and peanuts. and if I have not got the food out by 8.30 I get a knock at the back door from 4 Phesent hen birds looking for thier brekkie followed very quickly by 3 Robins all fighting for 1st sitting, followed by 4 pairs of blaick birds a pair of collard doves and some many other birds like yellowhammers gold finches, bull finches great tits, blue tits coal tits starlings and a wee jenny wren.
It takes us about 3/4 hour to eat our brekkie just watching through the patio doors.
Wishing you all good Bird watching

I saw a Red Kite hovering over a Crow eating a dead rabbit.It swooped down and pecked the crow but it stood its ground ,so in the end the Kite went elsewhere!!

No Sally, anything like that, I leave all my plums on the tree now for the birds, when they drop the Blackbirds love them, well whatever the wasps have left.

Caz x

Glenys................ I have to admit that it was my oh that started saving the bread crusts for the Ducks . When the warmer weather is here we have to bin it as then the Ducks / Gulls just lose interest in it .

Amanda x

hi
just read through wonderful stories nobody has said to thow their apple cores to the birds am i doing wrong
sally

Birds don't get my uncooked pastry!

If I have any bits big enough they get turned into a jam tart or a little cheesy pastie.

Tiny bits I bake as blobs and when just cooked they are delicious split and buttered. In our family we fight over the scrap bits......but i reckon they are the cook's perks.

If I grate too many bread crumbs I freeze them. Crusts are turned into melba toast or croutons to have with soup.

Poor old birds don't get many food scraps here. But we do feed them various wild bird foods.

Sue

Hi Ladies
I too have been putting out more food for the birds.
Yesterday there was soaked bread, peanut feeder, sunflower seed feeder, fat balls, wild bird seed, and a seed ring from the CBeeBeeS which I sent for on behalf of the minded children(catch em young).

We regularly have MR Robin(bully), bluetits, blackbirds, wood pigeon family, woodpeckers and possibly others I don't see.

They really do need us this winter

Linda :o)

Yes Jude, melt in the mouth sort, I don't do it now though. You reminded me with mention of crumbs that when I made too much topping for cauliflower cheese once , grated cheese and crumbs, I put the rest out for the birds, they loved it.

Caz x

Home made pastry......mmm l'm abit like you Ann not cooked any in yonks. l do a rice pudding though!!

We bought 2 small white cut loaves from somerfields today they were half price,so they are for the birds!! usually l freeze themfor us!! lol
l now have a dish sitting waiting for crumbs:o))

jude :o) x

Hello Glenys - you're brilliant:o))))

*wonders why Amanda always comes up with great ideas when self doesn't*

No one in my family will eat the crusts out of a loaf , so we save them up in a carrier bag and about every 10 days we go out and feed the Ducks or the gulls...........much better than just chucking it in the bin .

You know, this has raised my awareness on just how much food goes to waste these days.

When I've been out to dinner with friends or family, I've noticed a lot of people leaving a lot of food on their plate, which then gets thrown in the bin.

I always have a "doggy bag", and often get teased in a good-humoured way about this. But at least none of the food from my plate goes to waste!

I've started to collect food from my companions' plates now, if otherwise it would be thrown in the bin. I might be thought of as an anorak, but at least I'm not a wasteful anorak! lol

Caz and Amanda - thanks for that! Uncooked pastry, eh.

I always throw the uncooked pastry out for the birds.......it seems to be the favorite of the Starlings........and even Mr.Blackbird likes it .

Helen - the bread has to be soaked in water first. I usually put the bread under a running tap for a minute or so; that does the trick.

Kathleen - I forgot to say earlier on: you're welcome! :-))

By the way, the aforementioned cottage pie has now been consumed by their good selves. How obliging of them, bless their little beaks! :-))
x

Is it safe to put seeded bread out for the birds .I heard that the bread will swell in their stomach.I don't have any bird food at the mo,but am worried about putting something out that will harm them.

Pastry??? Umm, can't remember the last time I made pastry!!!

We have three feeders and next door have three all in our tree, and we have a bird table outside back window. The tree was teeming with birds of all descriptions this afternoon, but the little robin and a couple of blue tits had the table all to themselves, they made the most of it. By the way, we had a scare the other day when the sparrowhawk zoomed in, it didn't get anything luckily, but my pet bird screamed and flew to his place of safety on top shelf in the corner. He obviously knew it was danger.
Has anyone tried putting the left over scraps of uncooked pastry out, when I baked I always did and the birds would fight over it.

Caz x

Well done BC,keep giving them suet, Robins love it:o)
l managed to get 2 pks of suet with less fat in,hope they like it,thats allthe shops had. Got some fat balls as well today:o) Put baked spud out abit late, but l'm sure it be gone by now.

Mostly blackbirds, w/pigeons and a few sparrows today,plus 3 or 4 jackdaws.

jude :o) x

PS nearly forgot, when we were in town earlier across the river in a field was an Egret, it sat there for ages, l was trying to take a photo with ,mobile camera but camera was full!!! grrr