#Suet Block

[alcnfr]

I very much enjoy seeing the Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) getting braver about staying at the feeder when I am around.

[ecobirdfood]

Suet Blocks for Birds - Everything You Need to Know About Feeding Birds Suet in Winter - Ecobird

With the arrival of winter the birds face their most challenging season in terms of weather and scarcity. Good quality suet bird food can determine whether your feathered friends see the spring. Eco bird food suet blocks are premium bird food options. Crafted from  beef fat, sunflower hearts, peanut pieces, and seasonally supplemented with fruits and insects, eco suet provides a concentrated burst of energy and nutrition for the birds in your garden. We are here to support you in your bird feeding mission with a fantastic selection of suet products. Today, in this blog we focus on suet blocks for birds.

Understanding Suet Blocks A High Energy Bird Food

Suet blocks are a powerhouse of energy, offering a dense caloric source  of food that enables birds to stay warm during the cold winter months. This is particularly beneficial for smaller birds that may otherwise freeze.

Why Choose Suet Blocks - Nutrient-Rich Composition

Eco suet blocks boast an ideal mix of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, catering to the diverse nutritional needs of various bird species. This nutritional richness makes suet blocks the best bird food to bolster birds’ overall health, especially during periods of cold, and increased energy expenditure.

Convenience and Tidiness

Eco suet blocks are not just a treat for the birds; they offer a convenient and tidy feeding solution for bird enthusiasts. Their solid form minimizes mess and waste, making them easy to handle and suitable for placement in specialized suet feeders, or directly on bird tables. If you don’t have suet block feeders an alternative is suet blocks, these fit into traditionally shaped suet and fat ball feeders.

Winter Energy Boost

The colder temperatures demand more energy expenditure from birds. Suet blocks, with their concentrated nutrition, provide the extra calories needed to keep the birds in your garden warm and active during Winter.

The Best Bird Food Attracts a Variety of Species

Tits, finches, woodpeckers, and robins are among the many birds that find suet blocks irresistible. The diversity of ingredients enhances their attractiveness as a bird food to different avian visitors.

Proper Placement

Ensuring proper placement of suet blocks is crucial. Hang them in suitable feeders or secure them to tree branches or bird tables. If attaching directly to the tree to deter squirrels  it is best to use thin branches. If the birds in your garden are not used to suet blocks they may ignore them at first. On first use it’s best to hang them beside your regular feeder to ensure they are identified as food. Choosing the Best Suet Blocks.

Premium Ingredients

Look at the ingredients of your suet product. If the main ingredient is wheat or flour it is not going to have much nutritional value for the birds. Eco suet blocks are made with nothing but high-quality ingredients including beef fat, sunflower hearts, and mealworms.

Suet Block in a Feeders are Weather Resistance

Suet blocks when placed in the correct feeder will withstand the worst weather conditions. 

To read full blog visit- Suet Blocks for Birds - Everything You Need to Know About Feeding Birds Suet in Winter - Ecobird

[hal-o-ween]

Had a squirrel on my balcony 🔥🔥🔥

[ohpossuhm]

me(mumbling, tired): be gentle with your words im [feeling] fragile today

Sundae: youre full of jelly???

[magistralucis]

@absolut--kurant!

[magistralucis]

@absolut--kurant!

the smallest artist i listen to? probably the bird outside my window

[roseate-felidae]

My Domestic Canary bones

This was a red factor new colour Canary that my Grandad owned. He's kept and bred new colour canaries for donkeys years.

This bird died of old age, and he was born 2019. He was my Nan's favourite one, due to his beautiful song.

I buried him first and inside a square suet block cage with a humane fox cage above ground over it. Therefore no scavengers could get them like my last birds I've tried this with (i live next to a woodland so lots of natural death birds).

I lost some bones to the decomposition process, bird bones are very fragile. After fully decomposed, I degreased the bones in a mixture of water and fairy liquid dish soap.

This was the end result. I had to glue the beak to the skull, and jaw seperately as they both broke. I've glued the jaw to the skull aswell, as the bottom jaw is missing some parts that allow it to connect securely. It keeps wanting to tip backwards off the jawbone. These photos are unglued with the jaw being separate.

@mekanikaltrifle @robotslenderman @lepurcinus my canary bones are finally done!

[mylifesjustacarousel]

the crow

pairing: monty finch x fem!reader

summary: you just moved to port townsend, and you are under the impression that the supernatural is a load of shit… until you befriend a certain crow.

CW: swearing, mentions of blood

WC: 1.8k

part 2 | not proofread!

Port Townsend was a strange city. It was usually cloudy and dreary, especially during the colder months. You had moved there during the spring of that year, wanting a fresh start for yourself. The city seemed pretty boring and lackluster until you started to hear the stories of all of the weird events that had taken place prior to you moving there; The Devlin murders, little girls suddenly disappearing, a local butcher shop mysteriously blowing up…

But, it was hard to believe any of it. It was just the way that you were raised. Your parents didn’t believe in ghosts or any sort of superstitions, they believed in “logic” and “common sense.” Plus, it was hard to believe any of that stuff without seeing it with your own two eyes. It was just run-of-the-mill gossip to you.

You didn’t have very many friends, as you had just moved to Port Townsend. You had more acquaintances than friends, really. But, you enjoyed the solitude sometimes. It felt very freeing to just be alone. You often found yourself in the forest, walking along the trails and watching the animals. It was a strange place to find comfort in, but there was something so calming about being in nature.

You were sat on a mossy log, doodling in one of your notebooks that you had brought, when a bird flew down next to you, perching itself on the other end of the log. You glanced over, admiring the crow that was now next to you. “Hey, little birdie.” you cooed, talking softly as to not startle the bird. The bird squawked, not moving from it’s position.

“You’re a gorgeous little thing, sitting so nicely. Y’know what? I’m gonna draw you!” You flipped to a new page in your notebook, turning to face the bird as you started to sketch. Your eyes darted from the paper to the crow in front of you, your hand quickly working to draw and block out rough shapes. “I’m y/n. Not that you care, though. You’re a bird. I just moved here, and I’ve heard a lot of strange things about this place. But, it’s nice here.”

You turned your notebook around when you finished the drawing. “Look, it’s you!” you exclaimed, slowly reaching a finger out to try to pet the bird. It nudged it’s tiny head against your finger, accepting the act of affection from you. “Well, aren’t you just the sweetest thing?”

The sky soon got dark as the night came around, and you were still sat in the forest. You eventually packed up your bag, saying your goodbyes to the crow before leaving. Was it strange that a crow sat with you for literal hours until you left? Possibly. But, it was almost comforting. You could talk about whatever was on your mind, and it didn’t matter what you said because you were talking to a little bird.

Okay, it was a little strange. But, so was the rest of Port Townsend.

Over the course of the week, you found yourself going back to the forest over and over again, and the crow was there to greet you every single time. “Hey, birdie!” You sat down in front of the log, rummaging through your backpack. “I, uh, I did a little research on what crows like to eat. I brought peanuts and suet, I didn’t even know what suet was.” you mumbled, opening up the plastic bag you brought and sprinkling the food on the log next to you.

“You know, I’ve had a really hard time getting settled in ever since I moved here. My parents are really tough on me and I wanted nothing more to get away from them,” you explained, “But, I kinda miss them sometimes. It’s a little lonely here. Plus, I’ve heard some crazy things, like this old butcher shop blowing up? Heard the lady who did it was crazy, but no one’s seen her since.”

You turned to face the bird, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Birdie? Where’d you go?” you called out, getting up and looking around. You knew that it was just a bird, but something about it was so strange. You had been around birds before, and you had never met one like him.

Squawk. Squawk.

Whipping your head in the direction of the noise, you spotted the peculiar bird. He was sitting on top of a book, his beak pecking at a few of the pages. “What the hell,” you mumbled to yourself, walking towards him. It was a spell book, you had quickly discovered, and the pages he was pecking at showed a spell on how to turn your familiars into humans.

“No. No, no, no. You… you are just a bird. This is a silly little coincidence, because you are just a bird.” You got up, quickly packing your stuff up. “I have clearly overstayed my welcome, this is becoming weird. Um… bye? Yeah, bye.”

You threw your bag over your shoulder, quickly walking away. Your brain felt like it was spinning inside your head, trying to comprehend what the everloving fuck just happened. You had heard rumors of witches and ghosts in town… but they weren’t real. They could not be, that would be crazy.

This isn’t real. You’re crazy, y/n. It’s a bird.

One in the morning rolled around quickly, and you were still wide awake. You were hunched over on your bed, scrolling away on your laptop as you researched familiars. The more you scrolled, the more you believed that you needed a wellness check done. The most terrifying part was that it was all making sense to you.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

You almost jumped out of your skin, looking over at your bedroom window. There he was, perched at your window. Scrambling out of bed, you quickly slammed your window open. “Okay, what the actual fuck is going on?” you asked, feeling ridiculous for even talking to the bird at this point. “Whatever you are, I don’t want to deal with it. This is not real, you are not real.”

You started to pace your room, talking to yourself at this point. “And, aaaaaand! There’s no way that all of this supernatural stuff is real, okay? There’s just- where did you go?” You looked back at your window. The bird was no longer there, but the book was. The same damn book that you had seen in the forest.

“Oh my god. Oh my fucking god, I am going insane.” You reluctantly picked the book up, flipping to the pages that were oh-so carefully bookmarked. Familiar transformation spell. Even just reading about the process made your stomach queasy, it was gross. You continued to flip through the pages, trying to find any information about the book. Your eyes flickered through the pages, catching on something in the very back of the book.

E. Finch.

You had heard the tales of Esther Finch before. She had lived in Port Townsend for a while, but one day she just vanished. No one heard from her, no one saw her. All that was left was her house and her… bird. Her crow.

You felt your mouth go dry and your heart drop as the puzzle pieces connected. Your entire world felt as if it had been turned upside down. Everything as you knew it was gone, everything you were taught from your parents ceased to exist.

Holy shit.

Your body moved before your brain could even think, slipping the book into your bag as you slipped your feet into your shoes. Before you knew it, you were out the door. You didn’t exactly know where you were headed, but you had a bad feeling about it.

Esther Finch’s house. It looked like it was never even abandoned. No one dared to touch the house, and those who did were usually never heard from again. You took a shaky breath as you approached the house, your heart beating in your ears as you made your way to the front door. As you put your hand on the door knob, you questioned why you were even there. But something drew you to that house, and to that stupid bird.

Without another thought, you opened the door and made your way inside. The lights were still on, which was unusual for an abandoned house. But, it was literally the most normal thing that you had seen that day. “Hello? Is anyone there?” you called out, your eyes darting around as you took in the sights in front of you.

You made your way around the house, stopping to look at things here and there; knick knacks, paintings, the weird medieval-looking torture device in the middle of the room. Well, everyone did say that Esther was a little strange.

Your final stop was in the kitchen. Setting your bag down on the counter, you rummaged around in it until you found the book. “I can’t believe that this is my life.” you grumbled, opening the book up.

Squawk. Squawk.

You huffed, looking over. The bird was sat in his cage, just watching you. “You know, this is absolutely insane, birdie.” You walked around, searching the cabinets for all of the ingredients. If she was a witch, then there had to be ingredients somewhere. “You could be a lot more help, since you’re apparently not just a stupid bird. You know, I’ve told you a lot of crazy things, you could’ve given me a heads up.”

Once you found all of the ingredients and got some pots onto the stove, you pulled out a knife from the knife block on the counter. “Well… this better work, bird boy. Or else this is a really unfortunate end for you.”

Chop. Squawk. Rip.

It was a disgusting and gory process, and it took everything in you not to get sick all over the poor bird, or what was left of him. You would pay any amount of money to erase that image from your mind. You set your knife down, holding your hands up in the air due to the blood and guts covering them. “Okay, um, copperhead snake rattles. That’s the last step.”

You looked around, snatching the jar up when you spotted it. Grabbing one of the snake rattles, you crushed it and sprinkled it over what could only be described as your own Frankenstein’s monster.

Within seconds, the disfigured crow was no longer there. Instead, a boy was sat there. He had shoulder length brunette hair and deep brown eyes. It was like a model from a magazine, he was almost too gorgeous. He looked over at you, grinning from ear to ear.

“This is nice and all, but you are very naked right now.” you grumbled, quickly turning around to face away from him.

“Sorry!”

a/n: it wouldn’t be a story from me without a cliffhanger. let me know if you want a part 2, and if you want to be in a taglist specifically for dead boy detectives storied lmk! and, once again, thank you to cafekitsune for the cutesy dividers! <3

[birdghost]

Pileated woodpecker at the suet block 

[magistralucis]

@absolut--kurant!

just watched a dove struggle with the concept of gravity and weight distribution as it tried to eat from the bottom of a suet block that it was pushing away from itself

[alcnfr]

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) on the suet block feeder in Feeder City this afternoon.

[ecobirdfood]

Suet Blocks: Premium Suet Square Bundled | EcoBirdFood

Discover our premium suet blocks at EcoBirdFood, crafted to provide wild birds with essential nutrients they need. Each block is packed with high-quality ingredients to support bird health and energy. Conveniently bundled, they are easy to store and perfect for year-round feeding. Help nurture your local wildlife 

To Know More Visit - Suet Blocks

[cookiethebirdthing]

placing a block of suet in your ask box

biting and tearing and growling and ripping apart the flesh peck peck caw

[magistralucis]

@absolut--kurant!

[justabirdy]

From the Feeder 5-17 to 5-23

I won't lie, I've had a rough week. Amidst multiple breaks of bad new in my life and getting sick, I've found myself in a funk. There's a chance I may not even have a job in the coming weeks or months, so the bird feeders and the livestream have been a comfort of mine and may even become more important as time progresses. 

But enough about hardship, lets look at some pretty birds and talk shop about the birdfeeder livestream. 

Our first new visitor of the week is in fact our turkey who finally decided it was worth coming all the way to the feeder.

Wild Turkey

I was also finally able to get photos of our House finches who made themselves right at home the past few days. 

House finch

Another exciting visitor that proved difficult to photograph was a Ruby-throated hummingbird that stopped by a few times just before dusk when my camera would have the most challenging time catching it.

Ruby-throated hummingbird

And finally, our surprise star visitor, at least in my book was in fact our Pileated woodpecker who decided to swoop in and make his presence known at both our suet blocks. I just happened to be lucky enough to be around and catch him both on a video clip and in photos below! I'm still stunned at how big they are. That also makes 4 species of woodpecker to visit now!

Pileated woodpecker

And of course we had some of our regulars! I'll add those to the bottom of this post. 

----------------------------

Stream Updates

Okay, we only made a few minor updates this week. Here's a rough breakdown of the improvements: 

Added a running timestamp to the stream to better help people look back through the stream to find things people may talk about in the chat. 

Moved the feeders slightly closer to the camera. This should help improve video quality while cameras are zoomed in. 

Investigated ways to lower the latency so there's not a 25 second lag between inputting a command in chat and seeing anything happen. (this frustrates me too since a bird may be gone by the time I zoom in or pull up the audio) 

The first two changes are simple quality of life, the last one is something where I want your feedback and input. The conclusion I've come to is that youtube will only allow ultra-low latency on videos that 1080p or less. If we dropped to 1080p we could have a lag of only 3-5 seconds at the expense of 4k. So which do you prefer? Less lag or 4k video. Please let me know and I'll take it into consideration.

Final Thing

One of these days when I'm not feeling sick, I'm thinking about doing a birdwatching livestream where we can all watch the bird feeders together and talk about the birds and behaviors they are showcasing. I'm by no means an expert, but I would enjoy sending a morning truly birdwatching with y'all. Let me know in a reply as well if this is of interest too

- Birdy

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Check out the Interactive Livestream Here

Support me on Ko-Fi

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White-breasted Nuthatch

Common Grackle

Indigo Bunting

Hairy Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Mourning Dove

Red-winged Blackbird

Baltimore Oriole

American Goldfinch

Rose-breasted grosbeak

Northern Cardinal

Blue Jay

Brown Thrasher

Black-capped Chickadee

[insipid-drivel]

Personality Ratings Of The Birds That Visit My Bird Feeders

I have the beginnings of a little bird/pollinator garden outside of my bedroom window. It's nothing to show off yet, but I have a pretty big variety of regulars. And, like any bartender, I've come to silently judge them all from afar. Here are my ratings of my local Seed Bastards:

Dark-Eyed Junco:

Bastard Rating: 4/10 They take no shit and don't mind continuing to eat within about 10' of me when I'm actively working outside. Mostly bogart the feeders through numbers rather than actual bastardy. They go berserk for sunflower seeds and shelled peanuts. Don't scare easy but also aren't terribly interested in getting into it with the other birds.

House Finch:

Bastard Rating: 7/10 Refuses to share feeders. Chases other birds except their wives from the feeders, and will fully "nest" on tray feeders so their fat asses block the other birds from getting any from the feeder. I vaguely suspect they're racist toward the other birds because they'll only allow other house finches to eat from the feeders they're squatting in. At the same time, I've seen males feeding other males. Possible problematic queer icons. More review needed.

Chestnut-Backed Chickadee:

Bastard Rating: 5/10 Too tiny to really pose much of a territorial issue, but kinda remind me of flying chihuahuas. They mind their own business when they can, but will not hesitate to throw hands with other birds over either the sunflower feeder or suet cake. Generally don't hold grudges and stay in their lanes, until it comes to suet cakes.

Golden-Crowned Sparrow:

Bastard Rating: 2/10 Hang out in pretty big numbers, but otherwise mind their own business and eat when the other birds aren't taking up the feeders. They prefer the ground feeders. They're generally pretty chill. Their only true crimes are their systematic massacres of my supplies of black oil sunflower seeds.

Varied Thrush:

Bastard Rating: 0/10 Competes with Spotted Towhees in terms of raw cunt-serving power, both my cat and I get all kinds of tingly when this thot shows up. Yeah, he knows you're staring. He knows how good he looks. He's the flashiest bitch on the block. Robins? Dowdy Catholic school kids. Goldfinches? All color, no drama. This magnificent slut is here to slay.

Spotted Towhee:

Bastard Rating: 4/10 The hot goth vampire kid in high school you're 99% has their own OF account. Professionally Round. Uses his phat ass to own the runway (and my feeders) next to his frumpy competition. Is secretly a complete nerd. Basically if Laszlo Cravensworth was a bird.

Pine Siskin:

Bastard Rating: 9/10 This barely-there wannabe-goldfinch would apply lube to the bottom of your heels on Drag Night. The Heelies of the bird world; never truly cool but grasping at any legitimacy he can get. Nobody appreciates plagiarism. And ugh, he couldn't even be bothered to finish blending. What a rank slag. Get off my stage and learn how to work, bitch.

Black-Capped Chickadee:

Bastard Rating: 11/10 DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY THEIR ROUND CUTENESS. These little fuckers are the gangbangers of the forest. Subsist on raw suet cake and spite. They're consistently possessed with the rage of a lust-addled Klingon woman. What the fuck are you doing at their suet cake? God help you, if you're at their suet cake, they will c u t y o u.

Song Sparrow:

Bastard Rating: -1/10 Babygirl. Precious. Just wants to sit on the edge of the gutters or the top of the feeders and make it as independent folk singers. Probably resort to posting hole from time to time to make end's meet. Always eat last because it's all love, my brothers in Christ.

Anna's Hummingbird:

Bastard Rating: 9/10 While they may have cool optical illusions when it comes to their holographic feathers, they verbally abuse me every time I refill the feeder and it hurts my feelings :(

Rufous Hummingbird:

Bastard Rating: 1/10 Shy bois. They stay out of the way until they're sure I've gone back inside before they'll visit the feeders. Generally loners.

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird:

Bastard Rating: 3/10 Generally the It Girls of the bird world. You know your garden is officially making it when these start showing up. They know they're the most popular but generally try to stay grounded about it. Will sometimes hang out and chat while the hummingbird feeder is being refilled. Used to scare me as a kid because my sister convinced me they'd try to stab their beaks into acne spots. While untrue, they don't have much of a sense of personal space.

Mourning Dove:

Bastard Rating: 1/10 Generally only bother the other birds because they're fat and eat in groups big enough to make it hard for the other birds to get at the seed on the ground. Sing beautifully. Makes Hatoful Boyfriend kind of make sense. Ngl kinda wanna befriend one. Confuse me a little bit whenever I see them because I live in a swamp and didn't expect to find any doves out here.

Stellar's goddamned Jay:

Bastard Rating: WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?!/FUCK I KNOW THE SUNFLOWER DISPENSER JIGGLES WHEN YOU TRY TO FLY YOUR FAT ASS INTO IT. NO, I CANNOT MAKE THE FEEDER POLE STOP WIGGLING WHEN YOU PARK YOUR WIDE LOAD ON TOP OF IT. GDI I BOUGHT PEANUTS FOR YOU. STOP IMITATING A SHRIEKING HAWK TO SCARE AWAY THE OTHER BIRDS AND LEARN TO SHARE YOU ABSOLUTE TWAT.