Right now most of the country is in the middle of a winter snow-pocalypse. This winter freeze has blasted the Midwest and a large swath of the southern United States.
Although our more northern friends are used to even colder, Arctic weather for longer periods of time. Here in the lower Midwest and southern states it’s as if hell froze over. The sub-zero weather in this part of the country is unlike anything most of us have ever seen. Combine that with city utilities, road crews and building codes that aren’t prepared for cold weather and you have a mess. Now combine the shear number of homes cranking up their furnace at the same time. Suddenly we have rolling electrical blackouts, broken water pipes, dangerous road conditions and freezing cold families stranded in the middle of a pandemic none-the less!
Thankfully, there is always a silver lining.
For my family here in the Branson area, we’ve been fortunate. We have an efficient wood burning stove in our main living area and plenty of wood to burn. Perhaps it’s a blessing that our water pipes froze a few years ago in a week-long deep freeze. This meant we had new plumbing work put in, complete with thermo-wrapping so it wouldn’t easily freeze in the future. Thankfully, this seemed to have saved us from water issues this go around.
What about that silver lining? As I was sitting in the living room getting warm, I noticed a little chickadee land on a front porch chair. I suddenly realized that the bird feeders were all empty and we had no bags of wild bird seed left. I couldn’t let the little chickadee go hungry!
I sprung into action and began creating some homemade bird cakes.
In less than 30 minutes, I had prepared 5 bird cakes. I popped four of them into the freezer and took the fifth one outside to give to the hungry birds.
In no time at all that little black-capped chickadee was gorging herself. Soon after, other feathered friends flew in for the banquet. I recognized the tufted-tit mice, nuthatches, cardinals, juncos and woodpeckers.
As I sat near the living room window and watched them enjoying their good fortune, I found myself smiling and feeling happier. It was a silver lining indeed.
Here’s a little video I took.
And, here’s how you can make your own no-bake bird cakes.
Quick Winter Bird Cake Recipe
*This one is best for cold days as it will fall apart in a suet feeder if it’s too warm.
Ingredients:
• 1 cup uncooked oatmeal
• 1 cup crunchy peanut butter (smooth will work as well.)
• 2 cups combined goodies. I.e. whatever else you can find in your kitchen and combine from the list below:
• Unsalted nuts: Almonds, pecans, walnuts, peanuts, cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pine nuts. (Bust up larger nuts with a rolling pin so they are in “pencil eraser-sized chunks.”)
• Unsalted seeds: raid your spice cabinet for poppy seeds, sesame seeds, chia, flax seed.
• Unsweetened/unsalted snack items: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, granola
• Dried fruit and berries: raisins, Craisins, prunes, banana chips, dried apricots, dried mangoes, dried apples (make sure no appleseeds! Will kill birds.), dried chili peppers, dried dates, etc.
• Extra fillers: crushed egg shells (for calcium), corn meal, uncooked barley.
Instructions:
1. Melt peanut butter in microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Should be warm enough so it is like syrup. Put in for 10 second intervals and stir if you need it more liquid-like.
2. In a large mixing bowl pour in 1 cup oat meal and approximately 2 cups worth of everything else you could find. Should have a total of 3 cups of dry ingredients.
3. Pour peanut butter into mixing bowl and fold in dry ingredients until it forms a sticky dough-like ball. (Add a little corn meal if too runny or add a bit more melted peanut butter if too dry.)
4. Tear off 5 (8” x 11”) sheets of wax paper.
5. Divide dough into 5 equal sized amounts. Ball into baseball-sized balls. Drop onto middle of wax paper. Fold wax paper over, and use it to flatten ball into sandwich size. Fold wax paper around it and flip over so wax paper seams are down. Do this with each dough ball. Then stack in freezer and freeze. You can leave one out and place outside for the birds. If it wants to fall apart, simply lay it flat on a railing or on a bird feeder.
*Things to AVOID putting in your bird suet or bird cakes. These things can possibly kill birds! avocado, tomatoes, onions, apple or pear seeds (contain trace amounts of cyanide), cherry pits, peach pits, mushrooms, beans, eggplant, honey, asparagus, garlic, chocolate, dairy, Rhubarb, beef, celery, apricot pits, nectarine pits and plum pits.
If you are interested in feeding the wild birds in warmer weather, I recommend this year-round, no melt recipe instead.
No Melt,Year-Round Bird Suet Blocks
▪ 1 cup suet or lard
▪ 1 cup crunchy peanut butter
▪ 2 cups “quick cook” oatmeal
▪ 2 cups yellow cornmeal
▪ 1 cup all purpose flour
▪ 1/3 cup sugar
Optional goodies:
• Bird seed mix
• Dried fruit such as raisins, cranberries, apricots, dates, cherries, prunes, etc.
• Oat cereal
• Crushed egg shells (calcium)
• Dried mealworms (from most pet shops)
• Dried cayenne or chili peppers (helps with digestion)
• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Slivered almonds
• Chia, poppy or sesame seeds
Instructions:
1. Melt suet/lard in a sauce pan until liquid
2. Turn burner off and add peanut butter. Heat from the melted suet will melt the peanut butter.
3. Once melted, pour into a large mixing bowl. Then stir in all the other ingredients . *Should form into a thick dough similar to cookie dough consistency.
4. Add in a 1/2 cup or so of the optional ingredients.
5. Press into a foil-lined sheet or cake pan and freeze.
6. Once frozen, flip over onto a cutting board and cut into bricks that will fit into your caged suet feeder. Wrap each brick in wax paper and store in the freezer. Pop one into your caged feeder as needed!
*Note: there are mixed reviews on if you should use suet, lard, bacon grease or crisco vegetable oil. Most reputable birding sites say that suet is healthier for the birds. You can get suet from most grocery store meat counters. Or, just start saving the fat cuttings from any red meat you prepare. I keep a plastic zip bag in the freezer and throw fat scraps in there for use later in my suet making!
Enjoy!