A while back I came across an article about taking pictures of birds in a 'realistic' setting. One of the many things suggested was to take a tree trunk/branch set it in the ground using a fence post. And then drill a series of l holes in it vertically and fill the holes with either nuts or lard. Providing the tree had good bark the birds would cling to it and unwittingly pose whilst having their fill.

I had acquired the tree part from a friend some time ago. And today I finally finished the project. I was amazed at just how quickly they found the food drilled into the wood. Now all I need is the local woodpecker to discover the sunken nuts!