It all started with a generous Christmas gift; a one hundred dollar gift card for Wild Birds Unlimited (WBU). I have been feeding birds in our backyard for many years. We love to watch them fly in, eat, squabble, and cavort before flying off. We have a bird book, but they move so fast, and often don’t exactly match the photos in the book, so that we’ve named only a few. (Unlike my online friend Anne from South Africa who knows the proper names of all the birds, animals, and flora in her region.)

So, early in the new year, we went off to the WBU store in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, about a twenty minute drive from home. We bought all this stuff (see photo) and prepared a feast for our feathered friends.

All went well for a few days. Then suddenly during a cold snap we were invaded by a flock of Starlings. They ate up all the food. They perched on our outdoor light fixtures and decorations, and left their droppings everywhere. They scared off all the chickadees, juncos, finches, and other small birds. All this high quality food went to feed a raging hoard of nasty, messy invaders!

In a panic, I drove back to WBU and pleaded for help. They helpfully prescribed a cage for the main feeder, a different kind of seed for the other feeder (repellent to Starlings), and an upside down suet feeder to replace the hanging cage I had. Although I spent another hundred, I declined the suet feeder, thinking I could make one myself.

Back home, I installed the first two options, and within a day and a half, the marauding Starlings departed. That left me with the suet feeder challenge.

My basement workshop has lots of scraps and bits lying around, so I refuse to buy new boards or fasteners. I grabbed a few pieces of rough cedar and began to assemble something. As I wrote in another blog once, I don’t use plans. Just sort of visualize what I want, cut some pieces until it looks right, and glue and nail it together. This is what I came up with.

So far, not only are the Starlings not coming to the suet, neither are ANY birds feeding there. Perhaps in time one of the downey woodpeckers will discover it. Until then, it looks nice, and it gives the little birds a place to perch while they wait their turn at the WBU buffet.

Watching the birds and other critters in my yard reminds me daily of how awesome God is. What kind of mind could create so many delightful creatures to occupy our little half acre? The different colors, sizes, shapes, and markings of these birds is remarkable. The thought then causes me to consider the entire planet, and the abundance and persistence of life. Awesome God indeed!

For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work;

at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

Psalms 92:4 (ESV)