A clear feeder stuck to the kitchen window, a tally sheet and a pair of small binoculars. Nature study that happens while you make breakfast.
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I put the suction-cup feeder on the kitchen window mostly for myself. Within a fortnight it had turned into my daughter's morning job.
She fills it, she keeps the tally, and she has learned to sit completely still - which anyone with a six-year-old will know is not a small thing.
It is also the only activity in this collection that carries on quietly for months without me doing anything at all.
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Clean the glass thoroughly with vinegar and let it dry - suction cups fail on greasy windows and drop the whole thing.
Press the feeder on firmly at a height your child can reach, and hold it for a slow count of ten.
Fill it about half full to start. Too much seed just gets damp and wasted while the birds are still finding it.
Warn everybody it takes days. Birds are suspicious of new objects and yours will be no exception.
Set up the watching spot: cushion on the floor, binoculars, tally sheet, pencil. Being still is the skill here.
Every visitor gets a tally mark. Unknown ones get drawn quickly and identified afterwards from the chart.
Once a week, count up which bird visited most and write the winner at the bottom. Compare month to month.
Wash the tray in hot soapy water every couple of weeks - a dirty feeder makes birds ill.
If nothing comes for a fortnight, move the feeder nearer a bush or tree - birds will not land in the open with nowhere to escape to. And expect the first week to be entirely disappointing; it always is.
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