Hi Edward
In my garden they go for raw uncooked pastry which I put in a wire mesh feeder. They like something to cling on to.
They will also feed on peanuts and suet pellets, again in a mesh type feeder.
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Tony
My Flickr Photostream
Hello Edward, nice to hear you have G.S.Woodpeckers in your area. I agree with TJ that the Woodpeckers love raw (uncooked) pastry: plain flour, lard, a handful of grated mild cheddar cheese mixed with a little water (not too sticky) just place it in a fat feeder or nut feeder as TJ's photo shows or even a fat ball feeder and the Woodpeckers will love it. You can also place bits of the pastry on the bare twigs and shrubs around your garden and they will take it from there too as these pics show. I took these today, not great as conditions were a bit dark and gloomy for photos but it gives you an idea.
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Regards, Hazel
Wow thanks for all the replys!
I bought 4 mayfield fat peanut balls but no birds showing interest :(
The feeder looks ideal for most birds, absolutely no worries there.
Birds do seem to be picky about commercial fat balls - they barely touch them in my garden. But the uncooked pastry (as per Hazy's instructions - you can also mix in seeds, ground peanuts, etc to attract a wide variety of birds)tends to disappear very quickly indeed!
Good luck,
RoyC
God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented cages - Jacques Deval
Photos on Flickr
Hi Edward.
In my garden the woodpeckers just love sunflower hearts and the filled coconut shells! It might take a while to draw them in, so just keep at it!
I cropped the coconut off this next one to try make it look like a mor natural shot, but you can see his beak is coated with the fat!.
See my Flickr photos here
https://www.flickr.com/photos/115745582@N04/
What beautiful shots, I dream of those!
What quantities of lard and flour etc are we walking about?
Okay sorry I'm stupid ha.
So I got 3 blocks of 250g lard and a bag of plain flower. What exactly do I have to do?
Okay cool, So I don't need the heat the lard at all? Because mixing the flour and the lard just seems like it won't really work as its just solid.
I have a fantastic blender so i'll chuck some water, flour and lard all in together?
I think we've all got slightly different recipes for making raw pastry. However, in general you want about one third fat to dry ingredients. I use blitzed peanuts/sunflower hearts/suet pellets for half the dry ingredients and the rest flour. But you can use all flour. So for a 250g block of lard use 750g of dry ingredients.
If you've got a food processor mix the dry ingredients and cubed fat until it resembles breadcrumbs. If you haven't got a food processor you have to work in the diced fat with your fingers.
Then add a small amount of water, a little at a time until it all comes together. Don't overdo the water otherwise it will become a sticky mess.
I then roll it into a cylinder so it will fit into my feeder and pop it into the fridge to harden for a few hours.
I'm sure others will give you advice as to what they do.
EdwardB1143693438 said:I have a fantastic blender so i'll chuck some water, flour and lard all in together?
Don't add the water at the beginning cos you won't know how much to use. Dribble it in slowly when you've blended all the other ingredients. It's surprising how little you need.