Bird feeder recommendations please

[mckenzie]

Are the free standing ones best?
Or will one hanging from a hook on the garage wall be just as good?
TIA

Free standing ones tend to lean over in time.Hanging from a hook is much better.

My free standing one is ok, This one
You can get something to stabilise it as well.
If you have squirrels in garden i would get a baffler as well otherwise the food will be gone in minutes

Thank you
I’ve found a hanging one in the garage so that’s helped my decision

I have one like this
www.wayfair.co.uk/garden/pdp/sol-72-outdoor-coral-bay-feed-station-gqn1030.html

It’s great as you can hang different types of feed for different birds and also have a water dish. I put a few old marbles in the water dish so bees can also drink.

What's best will depend on your location. I've got a freestanding Gardman, like Bruffins but fewer hooks.

It's on my patio, just a few feet from where I sit a lot at the kitchen table. It leans a little but not too badly. And near enough to the back door I can nip out in my PJs in the morning to refill .

I don't have the water dish on it at the moment because birds drink and wash in my barrel ponds; I like the idea of putting pebbles in so the bees can use it but I suspect the wood pigeons would just perch and shit in it like they do with the mesh tray.

I try to have a few feeders up (in proximity or spread about). It seems to increase the number of birds visiting exponentially

It did take a while for my birds to figure out the feeders existed. Don't be discouraged if you don't have many birds immediately. By autumn (and into winter when they really need the food) they should have twigged.

Just watch out that seeds or peanuts don't go mouldy in the meantime if uptake is slow.

Thank you all for the comments. I’m going to start with the one I already have and look for a freestanding one on freecycyle too. What about a bath? Can I just put out an only Pyrex bowl with water for example or does it have to be a purpose made bird bath?

Think baths need to be fairly shallow

Why not try your Pyrex bowl with a shallow amount of water and/or some stones in it?

This bird bath is surprisingly cheap and has very good reviews. Free click and collect.

bargain bird bath

Do you get any cats in your garden? I try and avoid putting things on the ground for that reason. Mine's a hunter

Baby birds on my feeder

Aww... we've got some (and lots of other babies and youngsters) - not sure there's many things cuter than baby bluetits especially when they do that really fast wing beating thing.