Today was my turn to work the bird room at the rescue! There were probably 25-30 in there, but these are the only pics I took since the work was non-stop and I was by myself. I knew bird parents were busy, but now I have a personal appreciation!
Some of these tiny guys eat a ton for how small they are! I keep thinking they’re full and they come at me with open beaks and wings flapping, asking for more!
A cowbird was the most voracious. He would try charging right out of his enclosure and was screeching and beating its wings so fast!
The bluejay was my favorite. It is so pudgy and cute and I love my jays at home, so it was nice to work with one. Five more came in near the end of my shift, so I guess I should be careful what I ask for!
The baby crow was already so huge! It felt like a little dinosaur grabbing me for food, lest it take a bite of me!
There were grackles, robins, and Carolina wrens, and probably some other stuff I’m not remembering. The grackles and crow and another mysterious black bird (who was by far the most unhappy bird) were so loud the entire time, and with the concrete walls, it was quite loud, which seems the top complaint of people on bird duty.
The big walk in enclosure had 7 big robins who could at least partially fly. One eventually landed on me, which was fun. They mostly just parked themselves all in a row in their one tree and I fed them up and down the line until they were full. Then they would all lay down and nap for a little. Quite adorable!
But as soon as they were all fed, the first guys were ready for more, so just rinse and repeat all morning! Momma birds have crazy busy jobs!
Aw, baby looks a little sad.
Yes, people can be very exhausting; best wishes for that day!
.Did you see the owl/woodpecker post? Can I have a deer bacon bagel?!
I don’t think I saw that. Got a link?
I would make you a bagel sandwich! 😁
We had made around 20 pound before smoking the bacon. I got a deli slicer this year so I didn’t have to hand cut it and I think it came out amazing, though my brother says I cut it too thin. I like it crispy though.
It’s pretty fun to make. I think it’s 2 parts ground deer to 3 parts ground pork shoulder, add the spice/nitrates, beat the holy heck out of it in the stand mixer, press into big cakes, and send off to brother-in-law for smoking. The vacuum packing got very old though. Making bigger packs next time to preserve my sanity.
Wow, I typed a several paragraph reply and the ethers just ate it. And so it is. I’ll shorten it to say, for me, processing days started out fun and energetic and ended being tiring and glad to get the last in the freezer. We never made deer bacon though. Maybe one day!
Eta: I dm’d the link. It was a meme so I wasn’t sure about putting it here. You can, if you wish.
Oh no! That’s the worst when it eats all your work! 😔
At least there is a feeling of satisfaction when you put the last thing away, and that you won’t have to do it again for a while!
If you want an idea of the texture of the deer bacon, it reminds me of gyro/donair meat, just fried up like bacon. Off the smoker it reminds me of that. If you make that donair recipe, the process is essentially the same to make the deer bacon.
Yessir! And the joy of pan-seared tenderloin for a late supper!
I’ve never made donair, but my neighbor has, on skewers on the grill. I’ll have to tell them about slamming it several times, since it wants to fall apart, not sure if that will help on skewers, but we can try! Thanks for that recipe! Cheers!
Working the meat is often not what one wants to do, but in these types of recipes, it’s key to it staying as a loaf.
Stuff like burgers, meatballs, or meatloaf that you want to stay rather ground meat in texture, you want it to stay cold and be handled as little as possible.
But start whacking that meat or running it in the stand mixer will start to bring out, I forget what it actually is, proteins/enzymes/whatever it is, and you start to see some stickiness forming. Think of this like when you’re developing gluten for bread by kneading it vs a biscuit where you don’t want gluten so it stays light and fluffy.
That smacked around protein stuff really fills in the gaps of the meat and gives that firm and smooth texture that makes it great for staying together while cooking and makes it slice easy.
I was going to say emulsion, but a quick search shows cohesion? Idk but I’m looking forward to grilling with my neighbor again! It’s fun, delicious and gives me an excuse to make tzatziki. I like tahini too, but it looks intimidating to make.
Yum, now I’m getting hungry 🤤