Pinecone bird feeder

You'll need: large pinecone, smooth low-salt peanut butter*, vegetable suet, bird seed, garden wire, spatula.

Method:

1. Form a loop using a length of the garden wire and attach to the top of the pinecone.
2. Mix equal quantities of peanut butter and vegetable suet in a bowl and stir.You need enough for a thick coating of whatever size cone you are using . If you find it difficult to mix, gently heat over a saucepan of boiling water to soften a little first.
3. Using a spatula spread the mixture over the pinecone, covering thoroughly.
4. Spread the bird seed out on a tray or in a large bowl, then roll the pinecone in it.
5. Make plenty and distribute to friends and family, hang in the garden then watch to see which birds they attract!
   Refill by repeating steps 2-5.

* If you have a nut allergy leave out the peanut butter and just use vegetable suet.

We found that larger birds, like blackbirds and pidgeons, were having trouble feeding from this so we've moved it closer to another branch so they can stand on that while they peck which seems to have solved the problem. It's very popular, it's often stripped bare in a day and then they sing loudly to tell us to refill it. One blackbird will happily stay on the branch feeding even when we're sitting outside close by with our dog, so we know he feels at home!

Apologies for picture quality of photo below - it was taken through a rain-splattered window! A gang of 5 blue-tits kept us highly entertained all morning - chasing each other through the trees and stopping every so often for a snack but they were so quick that it was very difficult to catch a good shot of them.

Squash bird feeder

You'll need: a small pumpkin or large squash, plastic bottle top, garden wire, bird feed mix

1. Slice the top section off your squash, to make a a well proportioned bowl shape.
2. Scoop out the flesh*, the thickness of the wall should depend on the size of your squash, roughly 1cm for small, 2.5cm for large.
3. Make two holes, 1 cm apart, in the bottle top. Thread the garden wire through the top to form two equal lengths.
4. Make two holes, 1 cm apart, in the base of the squash. With the bottle top at the base of the squash, thread both wire lengths through. Twist the two ends together to form a loop.
5. Fill the squash with bird seed or a seed/suet mix and hang in the garden.

* Why not use the squash flesh to make some soup? See our Keep well recipes for Winter page.

We've found the squash base lasts for a couple of weeks before it's too soft and needs to be replaced. We used the bottom quarter of a butternut squash which seems to be just the right size for robins, wrens, great tits and blue tits. It is hanging from a ceanothus outside our kitchen window and it's lovely watching them rustling through the leaves then making quick darts down for a feed. The robins are very territorial and send the others packing if they can, but they all seem to be enjoying it!

We heard on Gardener's Question Time that small birds can lose up to a third of their body weight overnight during the winter. So if you start feeding them it's very important to keep it up as they will have idenitfied your garden as a source of food and might not have the energy to look elsewhere. Remember to provide some de-iced water for them too if you can.