Ever since I was a little girl I have loved feeding the birds in the garden. My dad used to tell me which birds were which and point them out to me when we went out walking in the fields where we lived. He used to make bird boxes for the blue tits and give them to family and friends and there was a family in every box every year!

Dad also used to make bird tables for us all to and we used to spend ages watching the birds on ours. We would put out scraps and seed and the table would be full of flapping wings!

Now we live here in Llandudno I only have a tiny garden so there's no room for a bird table so I have feeders instead. The ones I use are the cylindrical ones that hang on a hook or in a tree and I have them for seeds, nuts or fat balls.

Since I have Mew (the cat) I have to be a bit careful about where I hang the feeders or the birds would be far too clever to even try eating the food in them. I have seen Mew in our neighbour's garden sitting watching their feeders and waiting for birds to come - I don't think he has worked out why they don't come whilst he is there! Bless him!

Anyway at the front of the house there is a large established climbing rose and it is strong enough to support the small feeders which hold the fat balls and prickly enough to stop Mew climbing in it or on it!

I have purchased fat balls from various places but the ones that I am reviewing here are the ones that I bought from the local RSPB centre at Conwy.

The fat balls or suet fat balls to give them their correct name are made by the RSPB suppliers to a unique recipe which uses premium grade suet together with sunflower seeds and cereal.

They are available in packs of 6 at a cost of £1.79 (about 30p each) or 12 at a cost of £3.25 (about 27p each). They also do a plastic reusable and recyclable bucket containing 50 balls for a cost of £11.25 (23p each). They do a 50 ball refill pack for £10.25 (about 20p each) as well if you don't want a bucket every time you order. You have to admit that's a right load of balls!

All these products are also available online and UK postage costs £3.95 on all orders up to £75 and free delivery on orders over £75. The website address is https://shopping.rspb.org.uk/

The ones that I buy from the garden centre usually cost just £8 for a plastic bucket containing 50 balls so the ones from the RSPB are more expensive.

The unusual thing about RSPB suet balls compared to others is that they don't enclose theirs in those little green plastic nets as most others do as the nets can be dangerous to birds and other wildlife as they may get trapped in them.

A note on the website tells us that the suet balls are specially formulated for feeding the birds all the year round, but if they are positioned in direct sunlight they will become soft or even melt in very hot weather.

These balls can be put in special feeders as I do, placed on a bird table or even placed directly on the floor - if you don't have a cat! LOL!

The birds that will be particularly attracted to the suet balls are blackbirds, blackcaps, blue tits, great tits, long tailed tits, house sparrows, robins and starlings although I have also seen pigeons, jackdaws and even magpies on ours!

The length of time that the suet balls last depends really on the time of the year. In the summer there is usually plenty of other food around for the birds so the balls last a long while but in the winter when the ground is frozen or covered with snow the birds find these a good alternative source of food and they don't last very long at all!

I love to watch the birds fighting over their place hanging onto the grid of the feeders and I do keep mine topped up all the time.

There was a funny thing that happened last year though - I did have a lovely sunflower growing in the flower bed beneath the bird feeders which obviously came from a rogue seed that got dropped instead of eaten!

In conclusion I would say that these suet balls are very good for keeping the birds happy and healthy but they are a bit more expensive than those that I have bought from the garden centre. Having said that the money is going to help the RSPB charity so I suppose it's a case of swings and roundabouts really.

I will have to knock off one star because of the price.