A Larrapin Garden

Flashback- Ice Storm Jan 2009

What fun to get requests for post topics from those wonderful folks who comment on blogs!!  Thanks Stephanie and Jen for asking more about making homemade suet blocks, or “bird cakes” as we call them around here at Larrapin.  I tried and tried to find photos of this process that I took one winter day, but couldn’t locate them…but ran across all the photos from the Ice Storm of 2009…  Now there’s  a good reason to make a big batch of suet cakes!

Not to re-activate our NWA PTSD related to that awful ice-storm time, but there’s nothing like a little reminder that 100% of our human endeavors are dependent on the tolerance of Earth. It still drives me crazy when I hear the environment referred to as a “special interest.”  (Oh? Now that I know air, water and food are no concern of yours..well then, more for me!) Argh.

Thirty trees down or badly broken…our power out seven days (Jan 2009)

Heavy Ice (Jan 2009)

Heavy Hearts- The Beloved Blackjack Oak (Jan 2009)

Anyway! Let me put away both the trauma (and the comedy of doing everyday life activities without lights while we cooked entirely on the woodstove or gas grill…)  of that momentous weather event and turn to BIRD CAKES:

If you have never had a suet feeder you are in for a treat because it attracts a whole different family of birds than a typical feeder. Suet feeders are those square metal cages into which you can place a square block of suet (rendered beef fat with various goodies mixed in). Woodpeckers and all birds that “cling” while they peck and hunt for their diet of insects, termites, grubs etc will LOVE a suet feeder. In NWA, it’s a particularly important winter to put out suet feeders because all those types of birds have lost the rotten wood where their food lives thanks to the ice storm above!

(Caution:  if you have pet cats that go outdoors you probably don’t want to feed the birds at all since it just lures more birds into harms way.  It is estimated that cats are responsible for the deaths of about 1.2 million birds a year.)

Suet cakes are ridiculously easy to make. Here’s the deal:   You are going to slowly melt lard and maybe a little peanut butter till it is liquid. Into this liquid you’ll stir in corn meal to thicken to soft cookie dough consistency. You can also add optional goodies like oatmeal, nuts, raisins, birdseed, etc. You’ll pour/scoop the “dough” into a shallow container like a cookie sheet (or casserole dish) and press with your hands or a spatula till it’s about an inch thick sheet across your container. A waxed paper lining will speed clean up. You’ll score (cut, but more like making indentation lines all the way to the bottom of the pan –you’ll later break along these lines)  this with a spatula or knife into “blocks” that will fit your suet cage. Stick in the freezer briefly till firm, then break apart into blocks and store in ziplocs or similar in the freezer. No need to thaw, just put it out in the suet feeder and the woodpeckers, once they locate your feeder, will be your new best friends.  If you are in the South where you get warm winter days, keep it out of direct sunlight and it won’t melt. (Increase the cornmeal ratio to avoid melting too.)  Discard used blocks if any mold appears, but once your birds become regulars, it will not last that long!

Even easier for those with more money than time: buy the blocks at any store for less than two bucks each and enjoy the winged delight that will ensue. But for the homemade variety here are a few tips:  I finally found lard in handy five-pound buckets in the baking area of the grocery store. I didn’t recognize it at first because the labeling side turned outward was in Spanish! It’s cheap and easy to use.

I tried the whole “get beef fat from the butcher and melt it down” advice in many bird books. FORGET IT! It was awful. Lard makes great suet if you firm it up with cornmeal.  You’ll want plain cornmeal (not self-rising) and if you can get it rough ground, all the better.  Be sure to score your blocks so they will fit in your suet cages! Once the are frozen they are VERY difficult to break smaller. Ask me how I know this! haha.  This dealing-with-lard bit may be tough for the vegetarians, but woodpeckers, God decided, are not vegetarian. Crisco will not work (melts too easy) and who knows if woodpeckers tolerate vegetable oils anyway…

For those who want an exact recipe, here are several to choose from. (Note: I tend to avoid adding flour because I’ve found they mold quicker in the Springtime when it warms up. Just substitute more cornmeal when they call for flour. We keep suet out in all season except the hottest summer months. The parent woodpeckers will bring the babies to the suet feeder and show them how to use it!)  Some recipes just make it into hunks they put out onto a platform feeder, but our already-grossly-obese squirrels would eat themselves to death right away! We put our suet feeder at the end of long metal hook that we sometimes spray with “pam’ or similar so the squirrels slide right off!  Experiment and enjoy!  If you don’t have time for all this, just buy a suet cage and a couple of blocks to start. I think you’ll love the results so much you’ll be starting a new birding habit!

This guy makes it most like I do, except for the flour:

http://buildyourownbirdhouseplans.com/blog/2008/03/01/no-melt-suet-my-secret-to-having-birds-beg-me-for-more/

Here’s a simple one:

http://justalist.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-to-make-no-melt-suet.html

This one talks about the dreaded “rendering.” Skip that! But fun things to do with your suet beside just suet cages: like putting it on pinecones, etc

http://www.birdnature.com/suet.html

And finally, here’s another easy one:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=175780469137

Enjoy! Here’s to celebrating the birds in your backyard.

What are your favorite backyard birds? Do you make special treats for your winged friends?  Please leave a comment with your thoughts and ideas!

Tags: birds, how-to, winter