Now that autumn has officially started I thought it a good time to give our garden bird feeders a bit of TLC. They’ve all been cleaned and topped up as well as having a few minor repairs carried out pending the inevitable onslaught of winter. It won’t be long now before we’re inundated with birds once more (fingers crossed) after the comparatively quiet summer months which got me thinking about what feed to serve. Traditionally our offerings have been almost exclusively sunflower hearts, fatballs and occasionally peanuts, the first increasingly expensive but devoured at a rapid pace. Fatballs are considerably cheaper but don’t last long either thanks to our resident population of Jackdaws and Magpies whilst whole peanuts just don’t seem very popular at all. The less said about our experiment with Niger seed the better. I had planned to continue in a similar vein, that is until Haith’s got in touch asking if I’d like to trial some of their award-winning SuperClean bird food. You bet I would.
A couple of days later and an exciting package arrived containing a new X1 Robin Feeder and two kilos of the fantastically named Beggars Banquet™ Softfood. The feeder went together in a couple of seconds, three components comprising a bowl, canopy and threaded metal rod. All are made from high quality components and it’s clear from the extra little details that a good deal of thought has gone into the design of something which on the face of it at least appears quite simple. Take for example the brass receptacle embedded in the seed tray into which the connecting metal rod is screwed. I’ve seen other products use a plastic thread here and let me assure you that though it may work fine initially, you only need dismantle the feeder for cleaning a few times before that thread is gone. This bodes well for longevity and with drainage holes and smooth wipe clean surfaces any cleaning required should be an absolute breeze. One aspect I wasn’t sure on initially was the canopy and that’s more down to personal preference than anything else. In the past I’ve always thought birds unwilling to feed under cover but let me assure you that our residents have had no such issues with this one, plus it should keep those Jackdaws out leaving more food for our smaller visitors.
On to the seed itself next which is a soft feed blended with ground peanuts which have been milled to a size suitable for ground and table feeding birds. This is a species set which has been sorely neglected with out current feeding regime thanks to the usual garden centre seed mixes being mostly full of dross. Not so with Haith’s offerings. Their SuperClean brand is free from dust, debris and waste husk, byproducts which are both bad for a birds health and also the cleanliness of our gardens. Putting these claims to the test I delved into the bag and my hand came out clean so a thumbs up from me. It’s also noticeable that this mix is very moist thanks to its high oil content, good for nutritional value and also for keeping seed where it should be. Bonus points for recyclable packaging as well.
This is all well and good of course but there’s only one true test of seed and feeder. I popped both out late one evening and whilst getting ready for work the next morning there was already a Robin getting stuck in. Blue Tits followed, much to the Robin’s chagrin it has to be said, and it’s been uphill from there. My initial serving only lasted a few days before requiring a top up so I think we can safely say that these offerings from Haith’s are a hit. In fact I’ll be putting another order in soon as I can only imagine this mix becoming more popular as temperatures continue to drop.
In summary I can highly recommend both the X1 Robin Feederand Beggars Banquet™ Softfood seed mix. Thanks to Haith’s for sending me their products to review and if you fancy getting hold of them yourself then head on over to their website for all your bird food and bird feeder needs.
Disclaimer: Haith’s provided me with these products free of charge in return for my honest opinion and review.
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