Microwave Meals For Birds

Debbie has been making tasty bird treats for the last couple of weeks and they've been going down a storm in the garden. Here's how it's done...

Put a third of a block of lard in a bowl.

Add any bird seed mix into a shallow bowl along with dried mealworms and raisins.

Microwave the lard for 2 minutes.

Pour the melted lard into the bowl of bird food and stir.

Leave to set in a cool place for about half an hour.

It's as simple as that and the birds love it!

RSPB Old Moor & Park Springs

Wanting to take advantage of the respite from the rain but not wanting to travel far, we popped over to RSPB Old Moor on Sunday to see what was about.

I must admit I was expecting the place to be full of waders by now but aside from the Lapwings, there wasn't much wading going on. The bird garden was as busy as ever but quite dark as usual. I had the Sigma 50-500mm with me for once and got nice shots of a Shoveler and almost managed my first decent shot of a Teal.

Bullfinch

Greenfinch

Chaffinch

Shoveler

Teal

Despite being frustrated by the distance between us and the birds, Debbie got some nice shots too with the 300mm lens which you can see here and includes a shot of a Robin that puts mine to shame!

We also called in at Park Springs but the light was fading, still managed a couple of shots while almost lying down on the feeding platform!

Mallard

Mute Swan Signet

Paul.

Portrait Of A Robin

Spent a couple of hours in the hide this morning having got the day off work. There wasn't much about, a few Goldfinch and a Robin, although I did notice a Wren, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Blackbirds, Collared Doves and Starlings, all at the wrong end of the garden!

The forecast awful weather hasn't arrived yet but it does look like we'll be battening down the hatches over the weekend!

Paul.

Rodley Nature Reserve

Visited another new site today, Rodley Nature Reserve, near Pudsey, West Yorkshire. It's a fabulous place and we were blessed with a Kingfisher appearance straight away, but sadly no sunshine.

Debbie got better shots of the Kingfisher today, getting to be a regular occurrence this, it's seems she can with a Canon and I can't with a Nikon ;-)

See more of Debbie's pictures here.


Paul.