Bitter cold, the temperatures are in the single digits, the windchill below zero. Time to make suet cakes! Dad cuts up the suet that he bought at the meat counter, melts it down, and adds the liquid fat to my seed mix. ( Martha gets the crispy leftovers). Peanut butter and dried fruit get added in, then Dad presses the mixture into plastic tubs which we put into the freezer till set.
I head out just before sunset and put out two of the new cakes – one in a suet cage to hang from the willow, and a smaller cake wrapped in a mesh onion bag to hang on the deck. The little hanging hooks get caught in my knit gloves, and it’s a struggle, with the cold and the wind, and that obstacle, but one downy comes promptly to make the effort worthwhile.
Today’s birdcount: 16 house finch, 1 American goldfinch, 3 downy woodpecker, 9 house sparrow, 3 dark-eyed junco, 4 European starling, 2 mourning dove, 2 American crow, 2 black-capped chickadee, 2 northern cardinal, and 1 northern mockingbird.
