Today there is a chaffinch perched on the edge of one of the suet feeders. He’s a handsome chap, with richly coloured plumage around his head and chest that fades softly into a rust-coloured belly. However, I have to admit that I’m less focused on his plumage and more interested in what he’s eating.
Over the years we’ve acquired a box full of empty bird feeders of the novelty persuasion; half coconuts, three quarter coconuts and giant pine cones. Loathe to throw them out once empty, every year we refill the ones that survive intact and replace their tattered string loops.
The butcher in the village is quite used to my requests for suet and I carefully melt it down, adding a variety of seeds and often currants, before pouring the mixture into the empty shells, arranged in an old seed tray, propped up with newspaper so that the liquid doesn’t pour out before it sets.
The next day I proudly hang a couple of my offerings, immediately recognisable by the brilliant white top layer of suet, amidst the ordinary shop-bought greyish fat balls. Within minutes the blue tits, who always investigate things first, come to see what this is, sample the fare and leave…for a week or more. I’ve come to the conclusion that there must be a smell around the new treats they don’t like,which has to be got rid of by hanging in the fresh air before the mixture is acceptable…and every time, I’m hurt, although I know it’s not personal. It’s as though you’ve spent the afternoon preparing a special meal, when all the kids want is McDonalds.
The chaffinch is perched on the edge of a half coconut and seems to be digging out a currant. He levers it out and flies off, to be followed by a coal tit who settles in to investigate the seed and suet mix.
thekitchensinkbirdwatcher 