HOW TO HELP WILDLIFE
Keep birdfeeders and bird baths clean to prevent any diseases. Keep bird food, like your new ornaments, topped up over the winter months – a constant supply will bring a steady stream of happy visitors!
Your step-by-step guide to making edible holiday orna ments for birds.
With food, water and shelter scarce over the winter months, give your garden birds a high-energy treat with edible holiday ornaments. Winter is a tricky time for our feathered friends, food becomes increasingly difficult to find naturally, so lend a hand and supplement nutrients to help birds maintain their fat reserves. You may even get up close and personal to a species you haven’t seen before!
What will you need:
Blue tit photo: Mark Ham
blin/2020VISION
• Festive cookie cutters • screwdriver • biodegradable string • 2 ½ cups of local birdseed mix • 250g suet or lard (This should make up to 10 bird treats).
St a rt
Step 2
Step 1
Lay some greaseproof paper on a baking tray, then press the mixture into a compact layer, around an inch thick.
Mix your birdseed together with your suet or lard, which has been left to soften at room temperature and cut it into chunks in your mixing bowl until it forms a thick ‘dough’.
Step 3
Using your cookie cutters, press into the mix to form festive shapes, alternatively, use your hands to shape the ‘dough’ if you don’t have any cutters. Collect excess mix and repeat step two until all the mix is used up.
Step 4
Use the screwdriver to place a hole in the middle of each ornament.
Leave ornaments to dry overnight in the fridge or freezer until firm, then hang them out using your string.
If you make your own festive creations, we’d love to see them, send your pictures to magazine@essexwt.org.uk. 32 |
WILD Winter 2021
Step 5
