Zuska is the kick-ass alter-ego of Suzanne E Franks. When not dispensing Zuska's wisdom, Suzanne can often be found gardening, reading, or having one of her thrice-weekly migraines.
Some of us at Scienceblogs have been baking pies and posting pictures and recipes in anticipation of Pi Day (3.14) and in the hopes of winning the Pi Day contest. As I have previously mentioned, I am no pie baker. But why should that stop me from entering the contest? You're right, it shouldn't!
So I went ahead and made Bird Pie. And no, it's not made out of birds. Recipe and photos after the jump.
How To Make Bird Pie
First, get yourself one of those Gladware-type dinner-plate-sized leftover dishes. Take the bottom and either lose it or ruin it in your dishwasher or oven. Now, take the remaining useless top - this is your Bird Pie Dish.
The Bird Pie Dish will tend to go airborne and scuttle down the length of your driveway with the slightest breeze, so you will need 1 rock. Preferably, an attractive, interesting sort of rock. Place said rock in the center of the Bird Pie Dish.
Now, take a handful or two of black oil sunflower seed and arrange in two wedges on opposite sides of the rock. Take a handful or two of shelled-seed-and-dried-berry mix and also arrange in opposite wedges, thus:
![before seed2 [320x200].jpg](http://scienceblogs.com/thusspakezuska/before%20seed2%20%5B320x200%5D.jpg)
Your Bird Pie is complete. Place outdoors near the foot of your bird feeder in early to late evening and wait.
Next morning, get up as early as you can stand it. Maybe you are going to yoga class, so you might be up, dressed, and in the kitchen with camera in hand as early as 7 a.m. This will still not be early enough to catch any birds actually eating the bird pie, though you may catch one or two picking over the remains, thus:
![after seed2 [320x200].jpg](http://scienceblogs.com/thusspakezuska/after%20seed2%20%5B320x200%5D.jpg)
Note rock has been tossed off to side of Bird Pie Dish. This doesn't always happen. I blame the squirrels, who often share Bird Pie with the larger birds who find accessing the feeders somewhat difficult. This is okay, as squirrels gotta eat too, and if Bird Pie keeps them from attacking the feeders, so much the better. Live and let live, I say.
Bird Pie is nutritious for wild critters and nourishing for your soul. I highly recommend it.
Environment
Comments
Wonderful! I love that you got a picture of the spoils of the feast - and I absolutely love that the rock had been moved.
Posted by: ScienceWoman | March 12, 2009 8:04 PM
Brilliant!!
Posted by: arvind | March 13, 2009 11:07 AM
Hahahahaha...ROFL!! too good...You thought about the birds...They must love u...dont they?!:D
Posted by: Poonam | March 13, 2009 1:52 PM
Oh Zuska, what a lovely pie! I wish I could feed the birds, but when you live in the city you really just feed the rats (no thanks).
For a undergrad ecology lab we used pie pans of sand to feed kangaroo rats, but you had to collect the pans at 1am so the birds didn't get to them. I sure hope those rats appreciated us staying up late and braving the coyotes to feed them.
Posted by: JustaTech | March 13, 2009 2:23 PM
Brilliant. I'm making bird pies this summer at the cabin. This wins.
Posted by: Greg Laden | March 13, 2009 6:21 PM