Latest news with #birdhouse
The Sun
13-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- The Sun
Home Bargains shoppers race to nab £3.99 buy that adds colour & style to your garden this spring – it attracts birds too
A SAVVY woman has shared the bargain buy you need to grab for the garden this summer. So, if you've started redoing your garden for the warmer months, you'll want to head to Home Bargains. 3 3 3 The budget retailer has become a hot spot for gardeners and DIY whizzes looking to transform their garden this summer. From adorable garden decor to affordable garden furniture, the store has everything you could need. And one woman has found the 'cutest' buy to add to your garden that will add a pop of colour and invite birds to our garden. Rachael Coy took to social media with her latest find, a Mailbox Bird House. The adorable red structures come in different mailbox shapes and feature a cute statue of a robin on top Rachael shared pictures of the two she picked up, adding: "Cute little mailbox bird houses/feeders! "Home Bargains £3.99 each!" While the garden must-have is advertised as a simple bird house, Rachael decided to add some bird feed inside and it worked perfectly. It was the perfect addition to add a fun twist to your garden for a budget-friendly price. She shared the purchase on the Facebook group, Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK, which boasts over 2.6 million members. 'I need these,' cry Home Bargains fans as 'cutest' viral PJs return to People loved the garden accessory and couldn't wait to grab it for themselves. One person wrote: "I want one of these." Another commented: 'Omg love them." "They are lovely!" penned a third. Top 5 Spring Gardening Jobs *If you click a link in this boxout, we may earn affiliate revenue Nick Grey, Gtech Inventor and CEO shared the tasks to crack on with as Spring arrives. 1. Clean your garden Make sure to clear away all leaves, soil and plant debris from your patios and flower beds; this creates a healthier environment for new growth, especially as we get into the summer months. Gtech's Garden Safety Kit includes durable gardening gloves and safety glasses; perfect for comfortability whilst tackling those outdoor tasks. 2. Weeding Early Spring is the best time to tackle weeds; if you can introduce some regular weeding into your routine, you can guarantee a tidy garden all year round. 3. Hedge maintenance Spring is the ideal time to tidy up overgrown hedges and shrubs, as regular trimming ensures healthy growth and reduces pest issues. Using a tool like the Gtech Lightweight Hedge Trimmer can help to keep your greenery looking sharp and neat. 4. Composting Starting a compost heap this spring is a pro-active, cost-effective way to harness nutritious soil for your plants and recycle organic waste that will benefit the overall health of your greenery and foliage. 5. Look after your lawn Lawn care is hugely important in assuring your garden stays looking beautiful. Make sure to rake away any excess leaves and trim your grass routinely. Meanwhile a fourth said: "Oh those are cute." "Got mine today, so cute,' claimed a fifth. Someone else added: 'I'll have a look," for their next visit to the store.
New York Times
08-05-2025
- New York Times
First We Fell in Love With a Smart Bird Feeder. Then This Smart Bird House Stole Our Hearts.
Grant Clauser/NYT Wirecutter Unlike hanging a bird feeder, hanging a nesting box in the yard is no guarantee that a pair of birds will settle in to put down roots. Birds' nesting habits vary by species, and species vary by region and habitat. But there are many other factors, such as the height and location of the box, competition, predators … in other words, the magic might not happen. Birdfy offers some guidance on this. According to the guidelines provided by the National Wildlife Federation, the Birdfy bird houses are fit for Eastern and Western bluebirds and sparrows, and you might attract chickadees and some wrens. The weatherproof Wi-Fi camera, powered by a solar panel, is completely hidden inside the box. Grant Clauser/NYT Wirecutter It took about a week, but eventually my phone chirped with a notification — something was happening. I looked at the video and first saw a small beak — and then the whole feathered head and body cautiously investigating the box. It was a common house sparrow, probably one of the many that hang out in my nearby juniper tree. Even with the camera's built-in light turned off (I worried it would spook the birds), the video was bright and sharp. When you press the play button on the app for recordings or live video, the image takes five to seven seconds to load, which is longer than with any of my home-security cameras. But this birdcam is located 200 feet from the Wi-Fi router inside our people house. You can then download it to your phone to share on social media, and it becomes part of a 'story' on the Birdfy app, which lets you track the nesting progress of your tenants. A side door gives you easy access if you need to adjust the camera or clean out the birdbox after nesting season. Grant Clauser/NYT Wirecutter The nesting box used the same Birdfy app as the company's feeders, and it functions in the same way. Rachel Cericola explains the app's features in her review of the feeders here. Nest building begins! Birdfy After a week, the bird box didn't draw any additional attention, despite the housing shortage in my backyard. I thought maybe the close proximity to another (occupied) nesting box might be the issue, so I moved it to a different location on the other side of the yard. Within a day a pair of bluebirds started checking it out. For several days, a male bluebird would show up every morning for house tours, sticking his head in as if taking measurements for a sofa. Then one morning I checked in via the app to see a few twigs arranged on the floor of the house — the couple had apparently signed the lease and started to move in. The solar panel kept the camera's battery at full charge, even through overcast days. Grant Clauser/NYT Wirecutter In addition to being transfixed by the birds' bobbing and twitching inside the small space, I'm charmed by their delicate chirps. The camera's microphone easily picked up conversations between the bird couple as they planned their life together in their new temporary home. In a few weeks I expect the gentle tweets will be replaced by the caterwauling of chicks screaming for breakfast. All in all, the Birdfy nesting box met my expectations. The camera images look good, and it maintained connection to my Wi-Fi router. According to the battery meter in the app, the solar panel kept the battery fully charged — even through cloudy days — though increased chick activity may draw on it more. And the whole shebang held up well through spring storms with heavy wind and rains. In prior years I've enjoyed watching all of the activity around my non-camera nesting boxes, and I've always wanted to know what was going on inside them. Hopefully the happy couple who've claimed this one will continue their family building. And I'll get to watch the feedings and fledging as the season continues, and I will post updates to this article as things progress. This article was edited by Jon Chase and Grant Clauser.
WIRED
07-05-2025
- WIRED
Birdfy's Polygon Smart Birdhouse Wants to Make Your Backyard Visitors Famous
You'll definitely want to keep in mind the nesting seasons for your geographic region, as this is not a device for year-round use. The camera needs to be kept above 32 degrees Fahrenheit for optimal operation, and birds' nesting instinct is activated within a fairly rigid window of time. If you're in the US, the US Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency has a handy chart of date ranges by state during which you'll want to keep nesting boxes up. Maybe Maybe Maybe Aside from the questionable nesting hole size advice, a couple of other Polygon features gave me pause. There's no roof overhang to keep rain from blowing into the hole; this was confirmed by the fact that I saw water droplets inside the nest every time it rained. The inside is also varnished, something experts explicitly advise against, though there is no discernible odor. After five weeks of the birdhouse being up in my Pacific Northwest backyard within the nesting season window and not having so much as one curious visitor (at least, not one captured on camera), I reached out to Robyn Bailey, project director of NestWatch at Cornell Lab of Ornithology, with photos of my Polygon setup to see if something about it might be scaring the birds away. 'If you live somewhere that is warm, then I would have expected something to at least have gone inside it to look by now,' she said. She did point out that she has a similar nest box from another brand and noticed that the inside is quite cavernous compared to what birds typically prefer in the wild. 'I think most birds shy away from boxes that are much bigger than their needs, preferring to nest in a box that is just the right size,' she said. "I don't know exactly why … maybe it saves them the energy of having to make a much bigger nest to fill the bottom, or maybe it has something to do with temperature regulation. That said, if there is a shortage of good nesting sites, I would expect something to use the box.' Something else I couldn't help but note: The camera makes an audible click when triggered either by movement or by opening the live view in the app. The sound is unfortunately further amplified by the roomy size and smooth varnish of the box. Given that birds are scared off my feeders when a door opens 30 feet away, I can see how sudden noises from inside their actual nest might be a deal-breaker. Photograph: Kat Merck Bailey pointed out, however, that because birds are most active during the day, there's enough ambient noise around that a camera click may not register, though this could vary widely from species to species. Despite the camera having quite decent infrared night vision, I will likely refrain from checking on any nesting birds at night, since they will be more likely to become startled by the noise. So, in the meantime, I wait. At least I can say that the Polygon's Wi-Fi connection has never faltered despite the box being about 20 feet away from the house, and the 3-watt solar panel has kept the camera's 5,200-mAh battery well-charged. If and when birds do decide to pay a visit, I'm confident the Polygon will be ready.
