Let them eat cake!

Guest blog by Kathryn Cochrane, RSPB NI Communications Manager

Anytime I ask my six year old daughter what activity she wants to do on the weekend it's inevitably a request to bake together. As it’s January and sweet treats are the last thing I need after recent festivities, I suggested instead we could make bird cakes to attract more birds into our garden ahead of Big Garden Birdwatch.

The bird cake ingredients were surprisingly easy to assemble as they were all in the cupboard or fridge - with the exception of the lard which I picked up in the supermarket for 39p! For the moulds we opted for bun cases, making a hole in the centre and threading with string. Washed out yoghurt pots or even an ice cube tray would work just as well.

You need to mix in roughly 150g of dry mix for every 250g of pure fat. This time we used little handfuls of sunflower seeds, steel cut porridge oats, bird seed mix that we use in our garden feeders, some raisins left over from making Christmas puddings and some grated cheese. Unsalted peanuts or other dried fruits are good options too.

The first step was for me to cut up the lard into smaller pieces to rub into the dry ingredients. One by one she tipped, dropped and sprinkled in the seeds, cheese, raisins, oats and sunflower seeds. The initial idea of rubbing together the lard and the dry ingredients by hand wasn’t to her liking so we improvised and used a wooden spoon instead.

Next up we transferred and squidged the mixture into the bun cases and popped into the fridge for a couple of hours to set. Then we hung them out in the garden for the birds to enjoy.

This was a quick, straightforward and reasonably mess-free family activity and an opportunity to chat about caring for the nature that comes into our garden. We’re looking forward to taking part in this weekend’s Big Garden Birdwatch (Sat 28 – Mon 30 January) and together learning more about our garden birds.

There’s also a how to guide to speedy bird cakes available on the RSPB website as well as a quick instructional video on the RSPB YouTube channel using the melted suet all in one method for bird cakes.

One final tip from me - I’ve found the RSPB’s online bird guide to be a handy resource for an enquiring six year old’s interest in nature, helping me tackle the inquisitive questions! Before making the bird cakes, we had been out scooting on a nearby greenway when we heard the unmistakeable whooping of approaching whooper swans flying in formation and landing in the neighbouring potato fields. It was such a spectacle and she had plenty of questions about the ‘whoop whoops’, enquiring about what they eat, where they've come from and why they choose to come to Northern Ireland. I took out my phone and called up the RSPB’s whooper swan listing and all of the facts were at my fingertips!