Originally I used to buy coconut shells filled with fat from the local pet shop, but they didn’t last long and were rather expensive. One day, after the birds had finished eating the fat, I looked at the empty shells and began to think…. instead of buying the pre filled coconut shells, I could fill them myself with something else! After trial and error I came up with the following recipe which has proved very popular especially with our family of Greater Spotted Woodpeckers.

1 and half cups of melted Suet
1 and a half cups of bread crumbs

A quarter of a cup of sugar

2 table spoons of peanut butter

1 cup of porridge oats
Half a cup of plain flower
Half a cup of wild bird seed

The above ingredients are enough to fill three – four empty coconut halves. Simply melt the suet in a saucepan and then add all the other ingredients. Mix it together well and wait for it to cool down a bit before scooping the mixture into the coconut husks. The Woodpeckers certainly enjoy it the most and go through it in no time!! Sometimes, with a little help from the Long-tailed Tits and the Nuthatch!!