feeding wild birds

I have been watching Gardeners World as usual this evening and was so impressed with Wild Life Kate.   She showed a really good wild bird feeder called a super feeder which could hold three different types of wild bird seed. She purchased this feeder at the NEC.  I wonder could anyone tell me where I could purchase one of these super feeders. Have tried googling but with no results.

Would be grateful for any suggestions.

Carol Mc

Same query as Carol Mc

Hi, the super feeder is made by natures feast, had a quick look on their web site, you have to download the brochure, got the name from kates web site,

pash wrote (see)

the super feeder is made by natures feast, had a quick look on their web site, you have to download the brochure

I've just had a 'quick look', but I can't see it.

The Nature's Feast range of bird feeders is illustrated here:
http://www.naturesfeast.co.uk/wild-bird-care/feeders.php

There is a 'latest PDF document', and that's here:
http://www.naturesfeast.co.uk/wild-bird-care/pdf/Natures_Feast_Brochure_2008.pdf

But neither seem to show the Super Feeder demonstrated on GW!

I'm not actually in market for one, as I have some feeders already. The Super Feeder shown on GW seemed huge. I hate to imagine the running costs. It costs quite enough keeping my tiddly little basic feeders topped up.

Incidentally, I thought the feature about Kate MacRae was by far the most interesting item on last night's GW. Kate's garden was also featured on SpringWatch last week. You can see more of her amazing garden here, by moving the time-cursor to 20 minutes:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01js0s9/Springwatch_2012_Episode_7/

Kate's personal website is here:
http://www.wildlifekate.co.uk/

You don't appear to be able to actually buy a feeder from any of the websites above.

A good place where you can buy feeders is Amazon who offer a huge range. From a quick glance, the nearest thing I could see to a multi-compartment hopper feeder was this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Perky-Pet-110-Evenseed-Silo-Feeder/dp/B0000BYCMK/ref=sr_1_125?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&sr=1-125

<a class="twtr-user" href="https://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=katemacrae" target="_blank">katemacrae</a> The three seed feeder I showed on Gardener's World is by Nature's Feast )

Sorry, wish i could use this site properly, got above answer from kate's twitter account, with gary on the expense of running such a thing

I had the impression when I saw that feeder that it was designed for looks more than practicality. Would birds really get the hang of which port to search for to find the food they liked best? And if they did, wouldn't they just empty the sunflower hearts first, so you'd have to take down the whole thing just to top up one section, probably resulting in unnecessary spilling of nuts and seeds? I'm sticking with separate feeders for now.

@pash - yes, you're correct. Kate did tweet that message. Though I couldn't find the feeder on the company's website.

Kate also has her own little shop, here:
http://www.wildlifekateshop.co.uk/

But it's not on sale there either. Maybe it's purchasable from Kate's stand at the NEC.

But I agree with Magpie on the item being more stylish than practical. I don't think the birds mind too much what thing looks like, as long as it's not empty.

My bird visitors are spoilt by sunflower hearts and will hardly touch standard mixed bird feed so I doubt these fancy feeders would work in my garden.

I was more interested in how she attached the pizza/baking trays to the bottom of feeders.  I'm not much good at DIY but if anyone has any ideas I would be grateful.

Jb

joanybird wrote (see)

...I was more interested in how she attached the pizza/baking trays to the bottom of feeders....

Would a suitable glue (like Evostick) do the trick. But I don't know.

That certainly was a useful idea because loads of bits normally fall to the ground beneath a feeder.

I was wondering what happens when it rains; doesn't the tray become filled with water.

I guess you could drill some small holes to let water, but not seed, through.  And yes, a really tough glue might do it 

The niger seed from our feeder makes an awful mess, as a lot of it ends up on the ground. I have seen niger seed feeders on sale that have a tray attached underneath.  But as you say, what would happen in the rain? Anything with drainage holes would also allow the tiny seeds to spill through, or block the holes, and if it had no holes, when the tray filled up with rain it would just slop over on to the ground.

Green Magpie wrote (see)

.. I have seen niger seed feeders on sale that have a tray attached underneath.....

I've just examined the bases of my feeders. The bases are not flat, so gluing could be problematical, but might work.

They do have screw threads at the bottom, and you can buy seed catching trays, that screw onto the base...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Heavy-Duty-Feeder-Seed-Tray/dp/B000PKDJTY/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&sr=1-1-catcorr

But it depends on the exact model of feeder. There are other models available too.

Re- attaching pizza tray.

If you buy a proper tray for your feeder then they come with a threaded thumbscrew to attach them to the underneath of your feeder. I guess Kate has used one of these? I removed my trays as the small drainage holes soon become bunged up with seed husks/bird droppings etc and mould quickly forms, unless you constantly clean them. I did drill larger holes in some of them, but they still go mouldy.

Heres a few photos of mine, different brands of feeders come with differest thumb screws..

Those pizza trays come with holes already in them- try wilcos, supermarkets etc.

BTW they do work very well for pizzas- bases very crisp. J.

Hi, all my bird feeders came with trays attached with wing nuts, and like leadfarmer have removed them because of the mould, birds are such messy feeders they did little good anyway, i just turn the soil which kills any seedlings, especially the niger which seems to germinate at the drop of a hat

Oh, if your thinking of adding a large tray of some kind, it could act as a landing platform for pigeons. Going back to the super feeder, an old fashioned phone call could be the answer, anyone wanting one,

Pigeons were another reason why I removed my trays

Is the feeder mentioned above the Tordado Twister?

http://www.wildlifekate.co.uk/#/natures-feast/4549647775