© Christian Boix
On Halloween, I took the kids on a sugar binge and as I strolled past several creative pieces of cucurbit flair, I could not help wondering where they would end up in a few days or a week’s time.
Not one who gels well with waste, I realised that many of our gardens would look rather pretty and our little feathered neighbours would be rather happy if instead of turning all those pumpkins into fritters, soups or pizzas, we transformed them into bird-feeders and watched what drawing powers they had!
My son and I went home to practise our pumpkin-cutting skills. This is our bird-feeder. We wait to see who will come visiting.
Here are a few hot tips I found on the web to make your own pumpkin bird-feeder, so if you still have your 5 day old pumpkin staring at you, do the following…
Get yourself:
- a small pumpkin
- a few lengths of wire or string
- two dowel sticks
- birdseed or chopped fruit
Cut through the top part (about one-third) of the pumpkin, or carve a decorative edge to give your feeder more character.
© Christian Boix
Drill two holes about 3 cm from the top, cut edge, aligning them opposite each other, then a further two at right angles to the first holes and a little lower down (to enable the dowels to cross one beneath the other).
© Christian Boix
Wrap the wire or string around the dowels, securing it with a few turns, and then once at the top to join them.
© Christian Boix
Fill the pumpkin with birdseed.
© Christian Boix
Hang your pumpkin bird-feeder it in a place where your birds are happy to visit and your local raptor struggles to strike!
© Christian Boix
NOW!!…set your camera and let us know which birds visited your pumpkin feeder. E-mail them to christian@africageographic.com. The best pic we receive will win our gorgeous Southern African Birds calendar for 2013. And the top pics will be posted on Facebook. Competition closes 31 November.
Christian Boix is Africa Geographic’s travel guy and resident ornithologist. It seems he is also the latest contributor to our fab blog.
