Gifts for Wildlife Dads
Does your dad love to spend the weekend in the garden? Perhaps he enjoys waiting for visiting hedgehogs each evening? Or maybe he's the first up every morning having a listen to the dawn chorus and refilling the bird feeders for the day? Wildlife-friendly gardening has become a popular hobby of choice and our habitats, feeders and wildlife baths make the perfect gift for nature lovers and garden potterers.
So, we've put together our top ten gifts for dads who enjoy being outside in nature and watching the results of their hard worked weekend wildlife gardening as the bees, birds, butterflies and mammals come to visit.
Original Bat Box
Next month (July) is peak bat watching season. Every evening if you pop outside with your dad you'll see bats flying around searching for food. British bats have lost much of their rooting habitat over recent years. Our Original Bat Box provides two chambers and a valuable high capacity roost for a variety of species. It will fit into any garden, woodland, or house wall site. Made from solid, high quality, durable FSC certified timber, it provides longevity and excellent insulation and the narrow entrance slot and substantial timber help to discourage predators. A swing panel allows for cleaning, if required, by a licensed bat worker
The Bee Barrel
Fashioned in the style of a mini beer barrel, this is the perfect gift of choice for a dad who loves to enjoy a beer in the garden after his day gardening! Designed for solitary bees, the Bee Barrel provides nesting opportunities for female bees. By encouraging more and more solitary bees into your garden, you're helping to provide much needed habitat for these essential pollinators and helping to pollinate the fruits and vegetables you might have in your veg plot or nearby allotment. Win, win all round!
Friendly Bug Barn
This pretty insect home has lots of different textures, crevices and hollows making it a multi-species home for all kinds of bugs. Whether your dad is fascinated by ladybirds, lacewings, solitary bees or even over-wintering butterflies, the Friendly Bug Barn provides a habitat for so many of our vital insects.
The natural split log design has an opening lid which reveals the inner bug barn. You can add your choice of bug nesting material in here such as bark, straw or dried flower stems. The log walls are thick and chunky so are well-insulated and provide a cosy sanctuary for your friendly bugs.
Ceramic Frogilo
For dads who love their garden pond, and the animals that visit it! The Frogilo is our stylish summer and winter home for frogs, toads and other amphibians. This safe shelter protects from predators and garden tools. As well as being a cosy and cooling place to live through-out the year. It is handmade in frost-resistant ceramic with a green decorative glazed ‘tagine’ style roof. Making it a stylish addition to any pond. It should be placed near the pond, in a quiet, cool and shaded position.
Water is Life Wildlife Bath
Our Water is Life Bath is designed not only for garden birds, but also hedgehogs, bees and butterflies to drink from, making it a great all round wildlife bath for the garden. The innovative step and slope design provides safe drinking for birds, bees and other pollinators and insects who like to sip from the shallow edges of pools. The ramps ensure that any creature that enters the water can escape with ease. This bath is made from a lightweight and durable composite material called Polyboo, which is 100% recycled plastic and bamboo combined. Giving the appearance of stone but much lighter and tougher, making it easier to move around the garden and less likely to break.
Boxwell Ground Feeder
Did you know, robins, blackbirds and dunnocks all prefer to feed from the ground rather than a hanging bird feeder? The flat footed shape of their feet mean it's difficult for them to hang onto the edge of swinging feeders. They much prefer something like our Boxwell Ground Feeder which enables them to hop in, grab a snack, and hop back out again. Great for dads who loves to watch their loyal garden robin getting some well earned sustenance.
Ceramic Blue Tit Feeder
In contrast, birds like blue and great tits, are very happy to eat from swinging or hanging bird feeders, like our Ceramic Blue Tit Feeder. This novelty and fun small bird feeder brings colour and happiness to any garden. It's ideal for using with seed mixes and suet pellets and can be hung from tree or fence post, helping to add fabulous decorations amongst your bright and beautiful blooms. Made in hi-fired colourful blue and yellow ceramic which is frost resistance, it is supplied with a strong steel hanging wire and is easy to clean, with drainage holes to keep bird food dry.
Hedgehog Care Pack
Do you have hedgehogs visiting your garden at night, or would you like to? This is a great gift for dads who love watching hedgehogs sniffling about the lawn at night. The Care Pack contains our new Hedgehog Dome which is a mesh free hedgehog house which can also be used as a feeding station. The pack also comes with a bag of Hedgehog Food and a Ceramic Hedgehog Water Bowl and Snack Bowl. The complete gift set for dads and hoggies!
Fluffy Tail Cafe Squirrel Feeder
Our novelty Fluffy Tail Cafe squirrel feeder is robust and made from high quality, naturally durable FSC managed timbers with a strong stainless-steel hinge. The generous and easy to clean hopper can be filled with peanuts or mixed nuts and has a clear plastic screen for you and the squirrels to see the amount of food remaining. Once the squirrels see the food, they’ll soon figure out how to lift the lid and reach inside. Providing a separate food source for squirrels can take the pressure off bird feeders and offer your dad countless hours of joy watching them feast sitting on the red stools of the Fluffy Tail Café.
Wildlife Explorer Kit - for kids and dads!
Looking for something to satisfy the children and their dad! Our Wildlife Explorer Kit is filled with wildlife-friendly gardening gifts to keep them all entertained all Sunday long. Inside you will find, a pretty yellow Ceramic Petal Feeder for birds, a small bag of Cotswold Granaries bird food to fill it up with, a Nesting Pocket made from natural materials to protect garden birds during the cold winter months, our Butterfly Feeder and Food to encourage beautiful butterflies into the garden together with a Guide to learning about which species are visiting and finally, a mini magnifying glass to get a better look and what you're all discovering!
