Children got the chance to build bird feeders, as well as find out some useful and fun facts about our garden birds, at a Manx Wildlife Trust workshop.

Kids from the age of four and up get their hands dirty as they created bird feeders from a range of objects, such as logs, pine cones, old apples and empty water bottles.

A delightful mixture of softened lard and bird seed was mushed together by hand and stuffed into the pine cones, or into holes in the logs and apples, which could then hung be from trees in the garden.

Dawn Dickens, the education officer from the trust, also showed them what different treats the kids could make to make sure the many varieties of garden birds that live in the Isle of Man are catered for, and gave tips on how they could tell their chaffinches from the sparrows.

’We looked at the common garden birds that will typically come down and use the feeders that we have made today,’ said Dawn.

’We have told them about the sort of things that birds like to eat, where to put the feeders, and what to expect from their gardens.

’We also did some exercises in identifying the different species, like how to spot blue tits from sparrows and chaffinches.

’Making the feeders is very messy, and the kids loved getting stuck in with mixing fat and seeds together and sticking them into apples, pine cones and log feeders.

’They will help keep our birds well fed and safe over the winter months.

’A lot of the kids have come with a lot of knowledge already, and we can help them take that a step further,’ she continued.

’But we also enjoyed helping those who have come to one of these workshops for the first time, and they want to know more about birds and wildlife in general.’