Right now, there are 2 cardinals and one brilliantly-colored blue-jay eating at the new ground feeders. We also put out a bird bath. No takers there, yet. Patience IS a virtue. I'm sure it won't take long for the squirrels to find the stash - and they should be fun to watch from our back patio door.
We also put out a suet feeder. I zip-tied it as securely as I could to prevent the racoons from running off with it like they did last year (grrrr)! And that whole process got me thinking: perhaps I could make my own suet. It's mostly fat, nuts, seeds & bits of fruit, right?
Sure enough - there are some wonderful recipes online. You can even make them in your loaf pan and cut a slice at a time! Cool. I can't wait to try the recipe out this winter and let you all know how it goes! Alas, I have several commercial suet cakes to put out still.
Here is the recipe I plan to try, courtesy of Chickens in the Road author, Suzanne McMinn. Thanks, Suzanne!