Fence Post Bird Feeder.
This is how i made a bird feeder that would bring the wild birds up closer to the house so they could be watched by my Dad who is confined to a chair, he watches the birds at the big table in the garden but they are mere dots at that distance.
The feeder was made using 2 five foot long 3" x 3" (70mm planed) treated fence posts and some offcuts of other timber to make the other parts with. It was designed to hold 3 store bought feeders for peanuts, fat balls and bird seed.
The balance blocks from 2 washing machines where used to give the base extra weight so the post feeder does not let the post blow over if the wind picks up. The post feeder can also be screwed onto a 2 foot square concrete slab to stop it from blowing over in high winds.
The design was spur of the moment with the fence posts being the only timber that I bought purposely for the job, for the other pieces I used what was at hand in the scrap timber pile, using a table saw to re size into batons etc. Some rough cut timber was used but after it was cut to size it was given a quick sand on the sanding table to give it a more pleasant look.
The post feeder was painted with a test pot of Cuprinol garden shades that was reduced to £1 one test pot was just about enough to paint it all so it was a good job i had bought 2 pots. Painting was just to make the reclaimed timber look a bit better as it would be on display at the front of the house.
When it was first put in position no birds went near it as they didn't know what it was at first, so i moved it down to about 8 feet from the big bird table. After about 2 minutes the smarter of the birds had noticed it and where starting to use it as it was not as crowded as the big table and they got peace to eat. after about 30 minutes I moved it to half way up the yard and was no sooner back into the house when the birds where back at it again. After a further 20 minutes or so I moved it into is new position on the corner of the path about 5 foot from the window where my Dad sits during the day.
The blue tits and great tits are the ones that seem to use the feeder the most so far and a few ground feeding birds (ones I don't know the name of) hover up the bits that that drop from the feeders as the tits feed.
Thanks for looking and I hope you like the idea.
The feeder was made using 2 five foot long 3" x 3" (70mm planed) treated fence posts and some offcuts of other timber to make the other parts with. It was designed to hold 3 store bought feeders for peanuts, fat balls and bird seed.
The balance blocks from 2 washing machines where used to give the base extra weight so the post feeder does not let the post blow over if the wind picks up. The post feeder can also be screwed onto a 2 foot square concrete slab to stop it from blowing over in high winds.
The design was spur of the moment with the fence posts being the only timber that I bought purposely for the job, for the other pieces I used what was at hand in the scrap timber pile, using a table saw to re size into batons etc. Some rough cut timber was used but after it was cut to size it was given a quick sand on the sanding table to give it a more pleasant look.
The post feeder was painted with a test pot of Cuprinol garden shades that was reduced to £1 one test pot was just about enough to paint it all so it was a good job i had bought 2 pots. Painting was just to make the reclaimed timber look a bit better as it would be on display at the front of the house.
When it was first put in position no birds went near it as they didn't know what it was at first, so i moved it down to about 8 feet from the big bird table. After about 2 minutes the smarter of the birds had noticed it and where starting to use it as it was not as crowded as the big table and they got peace to eat. after about 30 minutes I moved it to half way up the yard and was no sooner back into the house when the birds where back at it again. After a further 20 minutes or so I moved it into is new position on the corner of the path about 5 foot from the window where my Dad sits during the day.
The blue tits and great tits are the ones that seem to use the feeder the most so far and a few ground feeding birds (ones I don't know the name of) hover up the bits that that drop from the feeders as the tits feed.
Thanks for looking and I hope you like the idea.