Ivel Valley wild bird food review

The other day I was stood at my kitchen window, watching the different birds that were happily eating at our bird feeder and suddenly realised that I was doing exactly what I’ve watched my Mum do so many times over the years.

She often stands in her kitchen, looking to see which birds have come to eat up the treats she leaves out for them (and this bird watching is even more special when there’s a grandchild around to share it with!).

And now here I am, doing the exact same thing with Rhys and Nerys, holding them in my arms and showing them the birds in the garden.

My Mum and I really are quite similar it would seem!

Before we moved into this house we lived in a flat in the middle of town, so we didn’t have any outside space at all.  So I was really happy when we moved to this house with it’s ever-so-slightly wild garden, because there’s so much to see out there.

And I was especially happy when I realised that the landlord had left a couple of bird feeders at the top of the garden, so all we had to do was fill them up and wait for the birds to come.

We’ve been picking up random bags of bird food here and there since we moved in, but it’s been a bit hit and miss with what’s in stock, and what I can carry home from town with Nerys in tow!

So I was really pleased when I was offered the opportunity to test out some bird seed from Ivel Valley, especially because you can order their products from their website and have them delivered straight to your door – perfect!

We were sent a big tub of their Ready peck 5 a day seed mix, along with some 5 a day suet pellets and 5 a day suet balls to try out, and they’ve all been a big hit with the birds here!

I was particulary impressed with the 5 a day seed mix because it came in a brilliant reusable storage container.

One of the issues we’ve got in our house is that there’s not a huge amount of storage space, so our bags of bird food were always sort of in the way, stashed in a corner by the back door.

Well this storage container solves that problem because it’s vermin proof and, after being tested out in the Welsh weather, waterproof, so we can keep it out of the way in the garden.  Which is a perfect solution for us.

The seed mix itself is really high quality, and contains suet, oats, seeds, nuts and insects and is designed to attract a fab mix of birds including Tits, Sparrows and Finches.  We’ve definitely seen a variety of birds at the feeder since we started using this mix, and it really is fun to stand at the window and see what we can spot.

We do also seem to attract pigeons though, which is pretty annoying, but when we chase them away the other birds then hurry over for their turn to feast!

The 5 a day suet pellets and the 5 a day suet balls are also great quality products, which attract even more birds to the garden, including Robins, Starling and, my Mum’s favourites, Wrens.

The pellets I tested were the apple ones, which are made up of suet, oats, seeds, nuts and fruit and are designed to either be scattered on a bird table or the ground, or in a mesh feeder.  I simply scattered some on the decking in my garden, underneath the seed feeder.  The pellets didn’t last long out there at all!

Along with the pellets we tested the suet balls which are designed to go in a suet feeder, and contain suet, oats, seeds, nuts and insects.

Ivel Valley have developed their products over 5 years, taking time to really perfect everything, and the result is a really great range of products that are high in energy and low in waste and that really have help us attract a beautiful mix of birds to our garden.

And with the huge tub sitting in our garden we’ll be bringing in the birds for ages, which is fab because Rhys and Nerys have been really enjoying seeing all the birds coming and going.

Do you put food out for the birds in your garden?  What type of bird do you see the most?

We were sent the bird seed mix, pellets and suet balls for the purposes of this review, but all words and opinions are my own.