Attracting wild birds to the garden with boxwild
One of my favourite things about where we live is that we back onto a nature reserve. It’s only small, but it’s full of trees, birds and wildlife. It’s a quiet estate and we rarely get disturbed by neighbours or passers by. But occasionally, the owls make a bit of a racket. They are definitely the sort of noisy neighbours I can cope with, it’s a lovely place to be.
The children’s big bird gift box from Boxwild
With the nature reserve so close by, I’ve always thought it would be lovely to put some food out for the birds. And when Libby started asking to feed them, I decided it was time to do something about it. So, Boxwild kindly sent us their children’s big bird gift box to review. This contained a little bird nesting box and some paints to decorate it. There was also a lovely bird feeder and two types of seed.
We painted the nesting box on a rainy afternoon. Let’s face it, there have been plenty of those this summer. The girls also had a little tea set to paint, so I helped them with the nesting box. I painted the front of the box, and the girls painted the roof. I was really impressed with the colours of the paints, which stayed bright and vibrant when they were dry.
Feeding the birds
When it came to filling the bird feeder, the girls didn’t want my help at all. The feeder is designed to hang from a hook, so that it can be placed high up away from predators. It came with a scoop to make it easy to fill it up with food. There were two types of seed in the box – the Boxwild blend and the Bluetit blend. Both are suitable for use in feeders all year round.
We chose to use the Boxwild blend to start with and the girls took it in turns, using the scoop to put their seeds into the bird feeder. I made them do it outside, but there was remarkably little mess.
We’ve hung our bird feeder on a post near to the patio doors. I think it’s a bit close to the house and should be nearer the nature reserve, but we’re going to see how it goes. We’re all looking forward to being able to watch the birds feeding and the girls can’t wait to start learning to identify them. They already know a few, but I’m hopeful this will teach them a few more.
The Boxwild children’s big bird gift box can be sent on a specified date, along with a gift message. They donate 50p to wildlife charities for every box purchased.
Such a lovely idea. You all did a great idea of decorating it, I love the bright colours. Alice made a bird feeder at school, but it was only out of cardboard and it’s safe to say it didn’t last long. Alice would love this to replace ours x
Thank you, it was a lovely activity. It would make a great gift to replace your bird feeder. I love that it comes with birdseed too!
Nat.x
Hi Nat, you do live in a lovely place, I can imagine the sounds of the birds first thing must be wonderful. Aren’t owls noisy? We have a couple of nosy ones that pass by at night, and I’m sure they are barn owls as when we do catch a glimpse they are big and white (and make a hissy screech type noise)?
Feeding the birds was a big thing in the winter when we were growing up, although it was nothing so neat and tidy as your bird feeder (Dad used to build something the size of a helicopter launching pad!).
I hope you and the girls have fun seeing and naming the little birds that visit. And I love your photo of the cheeky bluetit. They do have character!
cc
Thank you, the birds don’t seem to be coming with the feeder so close to the house, I’ll have to put up a post a bit further away.
Nat.x
This looks great! What a lovely idea! And what a lovely place to live. We’ll be looking at feeding the wild birds more this winter, so I’ll take a look at this set. Thanks!
Fab activity. We got given a DIY birdbox to make but it turned out to just be a small ornament sized one, a proper one birds can actually use is ideal. Lovely decorating ladies 🙂