I Might Have Known.....

.... the first bird I spotted using the suet ball feeder would be





a Magpie.

These were taken with the Nikon Coolpix S9050 I bought in December 2012.  It's doing a grand job as the photo numbering reached 9999 and started again from 0001 a few days ago. That means it has taken over 10,000 shots. It is still using the original battery which automatically charges every time I plug the camera in the laptop to download the photos.

Enticement

Still no takers for the peanut butter feeder. Not a single beak mark.
It always takes time for birds to try out new feeders so I though I would add an enticement.



I've hung a fat ball feeder underneath as they are used to those.
As you can see the jars of peanut butter are well back from the front of the cage.
Even the long Magpie beak couldn't reach through far enough.

Don't Forget the Ground Feeders

With mornings like today - foggy, air frost, just about 2C - our feathered friends appreciate some high energy food to start the day. What better than a fat ball or two? Most times we tend to hang these in nets or specially designed containers. That is fine for the smaller birds who can hang on but often near impossible for ground feeders such as Blackbirds. I have seen them keep flying up, trying to peck off the odd piece before they fall down again.

Recently I have been placing a fat ball or two on the bird table so they can all eat their share:



This female Blackbird was certainly appreciating it.