Saturday, March 03, 2007

Bird Nesting Materials

You can buy bird nesting material rings in garden centres. Wiggly Wigglers has got one for £18. I like Wiggly Wigglers but I'm sorry, that's just a rip-off, plain and simple. My sister Steph took one of those mesh bags you buy onions in and filled it with nesting materials - fluff out of the tumble dryer, bits of dried grass, teased lengths of sisal, feathers, ends of knitting yarn etc. then she hung it up in our garden.

It cost nothing at all, and it recycled some materials that would otherwise have gone into the landfill bin. It also encourages biodiversity in the garden, helping the native birds which eat garden pests. But even if the birds didn't do these beneficial things, Steph and I just love looking at them. We counted over 20 different species last weekend. I'm happy to help them build somewhere to raise their eggs, but I wouldn't pay nearly twenty pounds for a bunch of fluff.

10 comments:

Lesley said...

That's a good idea... I'll make one today. Sadly, despite having put food out all winter and providing a bird bath, we have had fewer birds in the garden this winter than usual.

I think it must be because it is so mild.... there is plenty of food to be found in the wild. We do enjoy their antics in the birdbath though particularly the energetic blackbirds

Anonymous said...

I can't believe what they try and get away with. I do it the lazy way, I just don't tidy up the garden.

Lesley have you tried different food? What I find anoying is that we get loads of birds for the size of our garden but we have a Blackbird who rules our garden and will not let in robins and thrushes, there the ones I want to eat the slugs and bugs.

Kirsty said...

great idea - I think I may try that soon too.

Was glad to see your blog still active as I enjoyed reading it when you started it up. Unfortunately we moved from our lovely farmhouse in Scotland and didn't manage to reap all of the rewards of the stuff we planted. BUT after a hectic winter I'm going to try as much as I can in our suburban rented garden.

Keep up the good work! Kirsty http://firstymcstub.blogsome.com/

Anonymous said...

Why all the indignant comments on Wiggly Wrigglers, or any other commercial company for that matter? Surely the whole raison d'etre of the free enterprise system is to sell to the customer whatever he or she is willing to buy, for whatever you can screw out of them?

Frankie Baby said...

My mother makes her own fat balls for the birds. She saves the excess fat from cooking and once she has enough mixes bird seed into it. She puts it into net bags like the ones you've used and hangs them on the tree. The birds love them.

Melanie Rimmer said...

Fair point, Dad (Bill) but £18 for a ring filled with fluff is more than they can screw out of this customer.

Heather @ Wiggly Wigglers said...

Hey Guys
I'm sorry you think the wreath is a rip off. We do much cheaper nesting materials that folks can make their own judgement over. As for rip off, you may like to know that our supplier makes the whole thing from scratch - including weaving the frame, harvesting the materials etc. It is not imported from half way round the world - it is made by a craftswoman in our local community. Our margin is a normal commercial mark up. Natural handmade Christmas wreaths are well above this - so it seemed reasonable to me. I encourage you to make your own if you want to, but others may wish to buy a wreath or one of the less expensive alternatives - but please know Wiggly Wigglers is not trying to rip anyone off or "screw" any money out of you. As for not tidying up the garden - I completely agree with you, but the shouldn't stop us providing alternatives, just as we provide bird food but also encourage native planting.
Best
Heather from Wiggly Wigglers

Melanie Rimmer said...

Hi Heather, thanks for commenting. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I applaud you for supporting local craftspeople. Do you encourage customers to refill their wreaths in subsequent seasons, or to re-use the empty wreath as a decoration in the house perhaps at Christmas time? I hadn't considered that underneath all the fluff might be a sturdy re-usable frame. I assumed it was a one-season disposable item, like my home-made version.

Heather @ Wiggly Wigglers said...

No problem Melanie.
The frame is reusable, I think most people would collect their materials while out walking (well this is what I do) but we do do a big bag of refill at £5. We use pheasant feathers - recycled from the local shoot, sheeps wool, hay, straw and hemp. I like the idea of suggesting people could use it as a base to their Christmas wreath - I'll add that to the label.

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