Decorative Treats for Birds

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Posted by @Sharon on
If you have grapevines or wisteria that need a winter trim, here's an idea that your feathered friends will love.

Here's what you'll need:

*Four or five long strands of wisteria or grapevine (at least 3 or 4 feet long)

*An apple

*A couple feet of yarn

*Peanut butter and bird seed

*About a foot of flexible wire

Here's what you'll do:

*Gather the uneven ends of 3 or 4 vines in one hand and with the other hand, wrap them into a wreath shape. Where they meet, wrap them in wire to hold. Twist the ends of the wire together so that the vines stay in place. This will be a very loose wreath, so don't worry about perfection, but you can wrap it tighter and with more or longer vines if you want.  Here's a tighter one from another year when it wasn't 70 degrees and we had snow. I've found that the birds like to sit on the looser strands when eating.

2012-12-05/Sharon/13e74e

*Slice about 4 pieces from the apple.  Those four bites are for you, the rest is for the birds.

*Wrap a long strand of looped yarn around the apple between two of the cut areas; slip the ends through the loop. This will allow the apple to hang from the wreath.

*Spread peanut butter in the sliced out areas of the apple then dip the whole thing into a bowl of birdseed. You can add unsalted peanuts and/or raisins to the seed if you want.

2012-12-05/Sharon/744e43 2012-12-05/Sharon/2f513e 2012-12-05/Sharon/73c2a5

*I'd just pruned my cedar tree, so I added a couple sprigs of it to the wreath by wrapping the loose ends of the wire around them. 

*Tie the ends of the apple yarn to the wreath.

*Attach a decorative bow if you'd like.

The wreath can be in a circle or not, and the apple can be in the center or not. The birds won't mind either way.  You can hang the wreath from a tree just by slipping the whole thing over a limb, or you can use the wire to attach it to a limb. I tried it attached to the side of my bluebird box, which is always empty during winter; then I decided to place another one just above the table in my Blue Garden, where the robins and cardinals are used to feeding on sunflower seeds.  They look quite festive and when the seeds and apple are all gone; the wreath will remain and I can attach another peanut buttered apple.

2012-12-05/Sharon/eaf86d 2012-12-05/Sharon/2a29bd

 
Comments and Discussion
Thread Title Last Reply Replies
Feeding the birds by vic Dec 22, 2012 9:07 AM 21

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