Days of feeding the birds : a review of the Finches Friend Cleaner feeder 2

Bird feeders and a bird table in the garden have attracted lots of birds over the years and given my family so much pleasure watching them flying in and feeding. 

This summer has been a game changer though with the addition of a new bird feeder, the Finches Friend Cleaner Feeder 2, which was sent to me to review (and no I haven’t been paid to do so.)

I’d met Andrew Wood back in February at the Garden Press event held in London. I was examining the stylish range of feeders designed by his father Dick.

 Chatting about how the inspiration for the feeders came about , he had me at the line “Feet, food and faeces shouldn’t mix”. Apparently the criteria should be that clean dry food should be available from a perch and that the birds shouldn’t be able to  walk or defecate in the food due to the transmission of fatal diseases such Trichonomosis and Passerine Salmonellosis.

I must have looked slightly guilty at that stage as I thought  about the bird poo I had seen and cleaned off my old bird table over the years. I felt even worse as I learnt that those diseases have reduced the greenfinch population by a whopping 70 per cent since 2005. 30 per cent of chaffinches have also gone in the same time span. I find those statistics frightening.

I was asked if I would write an honest review of the Cleaner Feeder 2, which duly arrived and was put together and hung up by my husband and three year old grandson.

The process took only minutes, and my husband liked how easy it was to assemble and hang on the tree in our garden. Our grandson loved pouring the bird feed in, and I was surprised at how much the feeder held. 

So far so good. We eagerly waited for the finches and other birds to come. We watched through windows, our grandchildren loved sitting on the kitchen worktops using binoculars, spied on the feeder from the greenhouse, but it took quite a few weeks until we saw our first birds.

I kept thinking of the fantastic Kit Kat advert from the 1980s where a photographer waits for hours at the zoo to film a  couple of pandas who refuse to come out of their pen. Nothing happens until he sits with his back to them eating the chocolate bar, in a flash the pandas appear on skates, dancing their way around with abandon, but as soon as he finished the chocolate, they disappear back in the one before he goes back to his cameras.

Slowly though, the birds began to appear - blue finches, green finches, blue tits , V pied wagtails, a robin or too. Now, nearly in late August, it’s like Heathrow Airport here. They’re flying in continuously, darting in and out so quickly, and as soon as they perceive a human about, they fly off. Until now that is. I’ve found that if I get there and sit oh so still, they will occasionally tolerate me being there at a distance...

So, unlike the poor photographer in the Kit Kat advert, I have actually captured videos of the birds …..

It is very addictive watching them as they busily fly in to get their food, twisting and turning their bodies as the feeder sways. If too many are on the feeder, the others wait and watch for their turn on neighbouring bushes and branches. 

Back to the Cleaner Feeder 2 though, after three months of use, the birds seem to like it and I definitely do. 

Aesthetically pleasing, with clean design lines, it’s durable, solid but lightweight, and still looks out of the box brand new. It also ensures that rain can’t get into the feed so the food can’t get wet, there’s no wastage of food and no mould. Cleaning the feeder is quick and easy, which makes a weekly clean is not a chore. 

When it comes to price, this model with two chambers of food retails at £74.99. That might seem a little pricier than others, but in my opinion, you get what you pay for. That’s all very well you might say, you haven’t paid for this bird feeder, That is true, but now this feeder has been used for three months, there are so many benefits, I would happily buy another. However, until I met Dick and Andrew Wood , I didn’t understand the full extent of how bird feeder hygiene impacts on the health of wild birds. Paying a little more for a feeder which helps to stop deadly diseases being transmitted is a small price to pay..

A day at Stockton Bury Gardens, Herefordshire

I was in rural Herefordshire a few days ago for a press event for twenty members of the garden press and influencers at Stockton Bury Gardens which is open to the public. I've longed to see these gardens for quite a while, so how did they measure up to the rather high expectations I had?

Springtime at Stockton Bury charms you immediately as you enter  and face eight acres of cider orchards lying between garden and farmland.

 

Tamsin Westhorpe is both curator and a gardener here, and a fascinating and funny host for the day as she enthuses us all with how five generations of her family have lived here, developed the garden, and what it's like opening the garden to the public. 

In my mind, Tamsin is a human dynamo, as she combines her work and passion for this place as well as judging RHS shows, writes books and has edited several national horticultural magazines.

At the start our tour, there's excitement as I see the dovecot., and let me tell you, this is not just any dovecot. It dates from the time of King Henry 1(1068 - 1135)

and the interior is just as impressive. I can't help but admire the sheer craftsmanship of those who built in all those years ago.

I was less thrilled to hear about what happened inside. Doves were bred all year around to eat, they were an important source of protein in the Middle Ages. The farm workers  would ring a bell, all the adult doves would fly out, leaving the baby doves alone, where they would be taken and cooked.

Into the gardens beyond, there were views to delight at every turn or gateway....

I adore the intimate little garden spaces, such as the piece of garden which Tamsin's grandmother claimed as her own.  A  calm, sheltered haven for the bees, full of fritillias, 

plus a a little space to sit , decorated with painted botanical images, which once an outside lavatory.

Moving down the garden,  there's a glimpse of Uncle Raymond's vegetable and fruit garden. He's the owner  of Stockton Bury 

A long line of espalier apple trees, underplanted with tulips and love in the mist, provide a boundary between kiwi fruits, peaches, cherries, soft fruit and the long path towards the Dingle.

As we move back towards the dovecot, I spy a small bed in a sheltered corner with pristine, oh so pretty white double headed flowers.  I'm immediately enchanted by these Aenemones Vestal  and want a huge clump or three for my garden. Apparently they are difficult to get hold of, so I may have to sulk for a while.....

It's time to venture back into the garden to forage with Liz Knight, whose new book ‘Buds and Blossoms’has just been published. I have never foraged for anything in my life, so  being shown flowers (primrose and lilac anyone?) that we could eat, leaves, such as magnolia and hosta,  and given these to try were a sensory revelation. Liz is so engaging too, romping through Roman and Chinese history to highlight how these plants were eaten as well as why these blossoms are so good for us.

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A delicious lunch follows in the cafe (hosta quiche, which tasted just like asparagus) and a nutty, flowery roulade which delights too.

While we are sitting, there's a lively discussion on open gardens with Tamsin and James Madge, who is head gardener of the Laskett, the nearby garden created by Sir Roy Strong and his wife. How can gardens attract more visitors, what do visitors want and how can gardens generate more income without losing their ethos and sense of place. 

Later, wandering around the grounds on my own, I meet up with Raymond Treasure (Uncle Raymond), who alongside Gordon Fenn has lovingly created this garden over the last fifty years. Funny, quirky and a real character, he is devoted to this patch of Herefordshire, 

No wonder, this is a very special garden, unspoilt by signs forbidding you to walk on the grass or suchlike which are seen  at so many gardens these days. There is a wonderful cafe which is run by Tamsin’s sister Connie ,  using an old tithe barn with freshly cooked food, some  from the garden.

There’s no pressure, no rush, you can wander at will, take time to appreciate how unique this garden is. There's a timeless quality here, an air of bucolic bliss perhaps a legacy from when this was a monastic farm hundreds of years ago. 

As I reluctantly prepare to leave,  I'm so pleased to get the chance to see Stockton Bury in the spring, so lush, green, full of colour and the promise of summer to come. It really is a garden for all seasons. Yes I will back as soon as I can, to see Stockton Bury, and to explore Herefordshire too -  it’s a beautiful county.

Stockton Bury is open now from Wednesdays to Sundays 11am- 

4.30pm until 29th September, excluding bank holiday Mondays.