As part of my 'gardening fix' I decided to have a go at making a Bird Feeder - I came across a picture of a recycled log feeder recently and thought that I could very easily fashion something from a log I rescued from a pile going to the council tip after a neighbour had 2 very dead conifers removed from her garden back in summer. For the past few months I've walked by it as it lay on the path - yet to be given a purpose. Well it needn't wait any longer.
Here is the log with screw in vine eye at either end. These need to be spaced appropriately as they will provide the balance needed for hanging....
It will be necessary to drill a pilot hole first - I find the easiest way of screwing these in is to use a pair of pliers. An alternative would be to drill a whole through the entire width, slip rope through and tie a large knot on the underside. I did give this some consideration but decided that the wet weather would probably make the rope perish quicker.
In order to provide a supply of food for the birds you will need to create hollows along the length of the log. I started doing this by using the largest size spade bit I had but found it wasn't doing the job to my nor Robbie Robin's satisfaction.
Whilst persevering using the spade bit - I suddenly remembered that I had bought a set of core cutting bits years ago - but the question was WHERE WERE THEY??????????? An hours or so later I found them in an old tool box way at the back of the shed. Note to self - sort out that shed in spring!!!!!
As you can see in the picture below - this made the work much easier. The down side to using a hole cutter is that it does not remove the centre. However a mallet and a chisel soon has them out. It is best to try smooth out the bottom of the hole as much as possible.
There we have it - the log with it's many varying sized holes. I also gave consideration to drilling a smaller hole all the way through but decided that not having a wooden drill bit long and thin enough to go through the whole way - the expense of buying one wasn't worth it - as a new log would be free if it rots. Cleaning should not be a problem either as I already use small bottle brushes for cleaning out other feeders - the same could be done with this.
Idealy, I would have preferred to hang my feeder from a stong branch of a mature tree - but seeing as there is none in my garden, I opted to hang it on the fence directly outside my kitchen window. This would also allow us watch the birds as they feed.
A couple of redundant brackets used for hanging planting baskets were attached to the fence - make sure that what ever you hang your feeder from it is strong enough to take the weight. I attached it through the faceboard and into the arris rail behind with good sized screws. A couple of lengths of chain (left over from another project) was used as a means to hang it from the brackets.
All that was left to do now was to fill it with feed and wait - rather strangely for the birds that visit my garden it took them a whole entire day before they began to investigate what goodies were on offer.
The selection of goodies on offer is rolled oats suet pellets, sunflower hearts, mealworm, grated cheese and dried fruit. The birds seemed to like it - which after all was the main purpose of doing this.
I didn't use seeds as I don't want an excess of weeds in the border below!
A few other thoughts:
- could just as easy be hung vertically - thought would need to be given to the food falling out. Using lard or peanut butter as a way of solidifying the food could be an option
- could also be used on the ground - no hanging required
- make sure feeder is accessible for refilling
- easy to remove for cleaning
- choose size of log carefully - the larger the log - the heavier it will be
- the nature of the log means that it will rot over time
- not so accessible for cats
- would be useful to hang on the inside of a balcony if you don't have a garden
