My Bird and Worm Comic

I made a comic, its about a bird and a worm.

My comic

How to make a very simple bird feeder!

 Every year we make bird feeders. This post is gonna be telling you how to make a bird feeder.

1. First you have to get fat and put it in a pot and get it really hot. It stinks!!!! :)

2. Mix lots of seeds such as sunflower seeds, rye and wheat.

Seeds and fruit from our garden

3. You can also add dried fruit, we put in dried apple slices and sultanas

4. Get a length of wire or string, tie a knot in the bottom and get a plastic cup and put the string or wire in the middle.

5. Poor the fat with the seeds and fruit  in the cup.

Me pouring the seeds and fruit in the cup

6. Then you just wait for the fat to cool down for like an hour or two (depends how hot the fat is).

7. Then you get the bird feeder out of the cup.

8.And finally you put it on a tree and in two or three days your garden will be full of birds.

The bird feeder waiting for the birds

We do this so the birds don't starve to death in the winter and for us to see the amazing birds. We sometimes put a plate of fat and seeds right next to our window and watch them from close up. I think its awesome. The birds that visit the feeders in our garden are: Great tits, Blue tits, Haw finch, Chaffinch, Wood Peckers, Blackbirds, Sparrows and Song Thrush

Here is a video that I made of Great Tits and Syrian Woodpecker (i think) feeding in the winter.

Pine Processionary Caterpillar

The Pine Processionary (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) is a moth of the faimly Thaumetopoea. It is one of the worst pine pests. They build their nests in Pine trees. The nest is made out of silk, definitely the strongest silk I've ever seen. They are active in the winter but they only come out at night to eat the pine leaves.

Nest of the Processionary caterpillars and in the back ground even more

They do have some  predators, Eggs can be eaten by a Cricket (Ephippiger ephippiger),  Larvae can be eaten by birds such as a Great Tits and Adult Moths can be eaten by Bats
The Processionary has lots of stinging hairs that can give you a rash and cause eye irritations.
The reason i am writing about them  is because me and my dad have seen many in the pine trees around where we live, more than last year. We think its because last winter it was quite warm. I am looking forward to the spring when the Processionary caterpillars march out  of the trees to find places to pupate.   Check out my Pine Processionary video!!

 

The Processionary caterpillar!! ;)

Another nest

The Processionary caterpillars that we found