Try not to use stale bread in breeding/chick season - it swells in the stomach and greedy baby birds will explode.

A fat ball is fun and easy to make if you eat roast meat. Save the animal fat from your roast and stir into it mixed seeds, nuts and other scraps of food suitable for birds. Leave to cool until opaque but still soft. Put a long piece of string through a hole in the bottom of a paper cup, looping it through and leaving enough to stick out over the top of the cup. Gently pour the cooled fat and nut mix into the cup, making sure the string is sticking out of each end. Put a popsicle (ice-lolly), craft or similar stick (Dr's tongue depressors are great for this...) through the loop and over the top of the cup. Pull the string gently until it is tight. Leave to set in a fridge or cold store. When set, remove from the cup carefully, making sure the string doesn't slide out. Tie a knot in the string and hang over a convenient branch or hook. The stick should provide both a perch and a means of keeping the fat ball on the string.

Don't hang it where the sun is strong.. it could start to melt!

I've got a buddliea that I've let go to seed, the blue tits love it.

LTS