Dale's Garden Hide. (been a busy boy)

I wouldn't call it 'fed up' but it's been time to try something different to perched birds at the hide for while. The problem is, it's out of my comfort zone.

This is a start, and given the grim light and ISO settings( 5000), I am quietly pleased. There is a lot of room for improvement though and I will keep trying to achieve that.

IMGL7486 LR CS6 JP tp hide.jpg
 
Well, it's a delicate time at my hide, it may have to be 'shut down'.

I have some really nice species just now, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Siskin, even Redpoll. One other species I have though is feral pigeons and they are becoming a problem. The finch type birds are fed sunflower hearts and nyger seed but it inevitably gets scatterred on the ground, under the feeders. As numbers have increased at my hide finch wise, so has the discarded seed. The pigeons are taking the seed from the floor and 1 or 2 pigeons I can tolerate but not the sometimes current 20 or so at one time. It takes enjoyment of the hide away and also, isn't fair on my neighbours, as the pigeons land on the nearby roofs, before swooping down to my garden. Mine are not the only feeders about though, so even shutting my feeders down might only have a negligible effect.

I am loathed of course to stop feeding as the current popualtion of finches will be dependent (to an extent) on my feeders, especially at the moment, with young.

I have a neighbour who puts out table scraps for the birds, this is of course, attracting even more ferals. They are not approachable people.

A few years ago, I would've been in a position to control feral numbers but without going into details, I'm no longer able to.

Unless I can come up with a way of discouraging the ferals, it may well be closure time for my hide. It will be a sad day, the hide has given me many hours of enjoyment, it has been an escape for me too when I've not been able to get out and about, as I don't do indoors very well. I'm hoping it won't come to it though.

I'v tried hand claps, effective but usually only for a few minutes. I've tried a laser pointer, but with limited success. I have my garden hose stretched out to the hide, so the ferals get a burst of water for their troubles but again, it's only temporarily effective.

I've considered the hawk/owl plastic decoys and also the Red Kite kite but that would affect all species.

Between this and with mink playing havoc at 2 of my Kingfisher sites, it's a disheartening time.

This is a bit of an appeal to members who might be able to advise.

Ta much.
 
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Sorry to hear all this Dale,
TBH I used to get one or three feral's. the last couple of years it seems they are bringing their mates.
As they tend to sit in a flock a few houses away, it's always the same house, and they way they "flock" in the air,
I suspect that they may have been someones racing pigeons at some point.
I too are also thinking about a more permanent solution.

There really are no easy fixes, save a live predatory response.
Sometimes electronic "hawk calls" can work, but of course both of those may well deter all the other species.



Dale. said:
I've considered the hawk/owl plastic decoys
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Don't waste your money. It'll take them a couple of days before they actually sit next to it, if its on a roof,
Or ignore it at ground level. predators are only a threat when they are above the target species, hence corvids chasing them, they are actually trying to get above them
and force them down.
 
Cobra said:
Sorry to hear all this Dale,
TBH I used to get one or three feral's. the last couple of years it seems they are bringing their mates.
As they tend to sit in a flock a few houses away, it's always the same house, and they way they "flock" in the air,
I suspect that they may have been someones racing pigeons at some point.
I too are also thinking about a more permanent solution.

There really are no easy fixes, save a live predatory response.
Sometimes electronic "hawk calls" can work, but of course both of those may well deter all the other species.




Don't waste your money. It'll take them a couple of days before they actually sit next to it, if its on a roof,
Or ignore it at ground level. predators are only a threat when they are above the target species, hence corvids chasing them, they are actually trying to get above them
and force them down.
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Thanks for the input Chris.

There was an old building in the village that was knocked down a few years ago, it was derelict, an eyesore and a danger. The ferals loved it though but since that building has gone, the pigeon problem is far worse.

I'm hoping it won't come to shutting the hide down, it would be a last resort and I'll look into other ways first. The hawk call you mention is worth a look. (y)

Our resident sparrowhawk seems to be on strike at the moment, she has taken pigeons here recently though but it's just the odd one.



Gav-canon said:
Hi Dale

I feel your pain, It's not easy, I can't add any thing that's not been said already.

We just live with them as the 'clean up crew'

Hope you a can find a solution

Gav
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Cheers Gav. :)
 
Dale. said:
There was an old building in the village that was knocked down a few years ago, it was derelict, an eyesore and a danger. The ferals loved it though but since that building has gone, the pigeon problem is far worse.
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That'll do it :(
Good luck with what ever you decide :)
 
gramps said:
I had some success with a catapult and some dried peanuts ... other 'soft ammo' is available.
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I'm sooooo tempted by this and have considered it, the Black Widow looks an excellent catapult. Not to actually hit the pigeons with but I can hit nearby things, like a plastic bucket, or my garden incinerator. (y)
 
Dale

What about one of the water deterrent sprays "Jet Spray Battery Operated Motion Activated"
These can be used for cats and herons, may work for the pigeons.
 
Dale. said:
Have my fox to think about too. He's a cool visitor, I like him.


Good shout though Gav. (y)
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Sorry, forgot about your fox

Old trick but has very limited success, empty plastic bottles hung from canes, clatter in the wind, but they get use to it very quickly, but cheap to try

Sorry, I'll leave now
 
Gav-canon said:
Sorry, forgot about your fox

Old trick but has very limited success, empty plastic bottles hung from canes, clatter in the wind, but they get use to it very quickly, but cheap to try

Sorry, I'll leave now
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lol, don't leave, all ideas welcomed. (y)
 
Maybe a bird scarer like an Air horn will drive them off as and when you see them Dale - that said how well do you get on with your neighbours ?

I have a PIR sensor that controls my sprinkler to turn on when the beam is broken- mostly for cats though- depends where you put the sensor - I have had smaller birds land on the Lawn with no action from the sprinkler, so much I asked the wife to walk onto the lawn to see it was working or not?

well you guess the rest :LOL::LOL::LOL: I do like a quiet breakfast don't you ? :exit:

Also old or blank CD rom disks hung in the general flight path, on fishing lines work well too- even more so it its a tad windy

Les :)
 
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I have 2 bird feeding areas. One with seed feeders, and that attracts the pigeons to the fallen seeds. Although I don’t get plagued with them like you.

The other area I hang fat balls and fat feeder sticks. The pigeons don’t bother with these as no falling food.

Maybe stop the seeds and swap for fat balls and sticks?
 
I have a neighbour who puts out table scraps for the birds, this is of course, attracting even more ferals. They are not approachable people.

I assume nothing can be done against this either by the council or RSPB etc?
 
Brentor said:
I assume nothing can be done against this either by the council or RSPB etc?
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Sadly, the council are highly unlikely to respond to any complaints.
However if you consider it a health hazard, and feral's are, you could try the local environmental health officer.
But they are more interested in commercial properties, restaurants shopping precincts etc
 
4-6" mesh over the area under the feeders might be enough to keep the ferals off. Not a particularly aesthetic solution though! Steel or thick plastic would prevent the entanglement that thinner netting could cause.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions, plenty of food for thought.

I am considering some kind of mesh now. I remembered I have some plastic, 1 inch square stuff in the shed, somewhere. I may make it into a frame and raise it an inch or so above ground, enough to stop the pigeons reaching the discarded seed or getting under the frame. The smaller birds should still be able to ground forage, chaffinches seem to prefer that to perching.
 
Lez325 said:
PS I have some very effective Feral removal tools at my disposal- shame you live so, far from me :(
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Thanks for the reply Les, some good ideas, although despite getting on really well with all our neighbours (save for table scrap peeps) I think an air horn might be pushing thier tolerances. :LOL:

I feel though and with all due respect, I must mention the above quote.

I am an ex firearms owner, I didn't want to go into detail as mentioned earlier but I have been shooting since I was 12, right up until a few years ago, 2018 I think it was. I would've been 50 then, so that's a lot of years shooting. I had an FAC and an SGC, owned various guns, including .17HMR and an SX3, semi automatic, 12g shotgun, as well as various air rifles.

I no longer have any firearms, I got up one morning and decided it wasn't for me anymore, after all those years. I drove to the gunshop, sold my guns at trade prices, probably for half what they were worth. On the way home, I stopped at the Police staion and handed in my licences. That was it for me, I was done, no more killing for me.

The .17HMR and 12g were not garden compatible, despite us having a very large garden. The .17 was lethal up to a mile (not that I ever shot anything like that distance) and the 12g, lethal too, well beyond our garden boundaries. My sub 12ft/lbs air rifle would've been more suitable, as the law at the time stated you had to be 50 feet away from a highway (ie public footpath or road) although even the sub 12ft/lbs air rifle would've required a good backstop and no stones in the garden, to lessen the risk of a ricochet, which could go anywhere. The 50 feet law may have changed now, I'm not sure.

2 things concern me about your reply Les and again, this is with utmost respect and good intention,

1, When I owned guns and during the licencing and licence renewal periods, it was made clear to me that I should be careful who I mentioned the fact that I was a firearms owner to. In the opinion of the Police and I agree with it, is that there is a potential for the wrong sorts of people to get to hear about it. My firearms officer mentioned to me a few times that there were instances of these 'sorts of people' breaking into gun owner's houses, and using a firerm of their own to get the gun owner to take them to their gun safe, empty it and hand over the guns. This does happen and firearms have found thier way onto the black market this way, as well as the wrong and very bad hands.

2, As mentioned, I was careful who I told I owned guns, as if it got back to the Police that I was telling people, they could potentially revoke my licences.

I would hate to see any of these things happen to you Les, it may be wise to keep the fact that you 'have' guns under wraps, as you never know.

In fairness, I may have mentioned the fact that I owned guns here previosuly but when I was informed by my firearms officer that it was a 'no no', regarding social media etc, I heeded the advice and hence my reluctance, depite not owning fireams any longer. to go into details here.

Les, my intentions are good here, I mean no offence, just advise.
 
Thank you for the sound advice Dale- I note all you say- I must at this point let you and anyone interested, that on Thursday this week I will be doing the same as you did - selling all my firearms and handing in my FAC a SGC - at a great financial loss I might add :( - also my HOME address is NOT common knowledge and during any sales thread I am involved in on here or elsewhere, I use my sisters address - i do not use social media either :)

I do thank you for your concern and I took it as you intended as advice with good intent- Good luck with those Feral's mate

Les :)
 
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Please remove this Dale- I did message you to request this :rolleyes: :)
 
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Feral removal tool = FIREARMS does it??????

I'm DONE with this forum - I did message you Dale YOU Ignored it - stick your forum where the sun don't shine

Thank you and goodbye :wave::wave::wave:
 
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Lez325 said:
stick your forum where the sun don't shine
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I'm sorry to see you leave Les, but you can't insult a member of staff like that, without reprisals.
 
Lez325 said:
Feral removal tool = FIREARMS does it??????

I'm DONE with this forum - I did message you Dale YOU Ignored it - stick your forum where the sun don't shine

Thank you and goodbye :wave::wave::wave:
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Just to be clear, Les PMd me asking me to delete the post where I offered advice. I intended though to leave it as a reference and still do. Even if I wasn't a Moderator, I would've given Les the same advice.

I didn't ignore Les, I couldn't reply to Les in the thread or by PM at that moment as I had an appointment in town and I was already running late, I just didn't have the time.

Only now I'm back am I seeing the fallout.

I'm sorry Les has taken it badly, it was not my intention, it was meant as friendly advice, to which I went to lengths to make clear.

Now, back to the pigeons.
 
Les's deleted messages restored, in the interests of clarity.

Dale. said:
Now, back to the pigeons.
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How many do you want? I've got about 30 here.
:D
 
A water feature/small pond around the base could help...

Down sides - extra mantainance,unless deep enough it could turn into a bird bath, would need a filter to deal with decaying food.

Up side - reflection pool for bird images :) ;) peaceful sounds and looks and water hole for the fox
 
Gav-canon said:
A water feature/small pond around the base could help...

Down sides - extra mantainance,unless deep enough it could turn into a bird bath, would need a filter to deal with decaying food.

Up side - reflection pool for bird images :) ;) peaceful sounds and looks and water hole for the fox
Click to expand...

I like your thinking Gav. I had a reflection pool at one time although I stopped using it. I still have the 'pool', it's an old builder's mixing tray, about an inch or so deep, although it sits up ended to one side just now. I could look at ways of using it again though. (y)

I have a garden pond (unfiltered) of sorts but that is about 20 feet to the side of the hide. The fox enjoys that, as do the local hedgehogs and in the summer, the birds bathe in it. It's fairly big, probably about 8x6 ft, with tons of pond skaters :LOL:.

I wouldn't mind another pond though, maybe nearer the hide.
 
Dale. said:
I like your thinking Gav. I had a reflection pool at one time although I stopped using it. I still have the 'pool', it's an old builder's mixing tray, about an inch or so deep, although it sits up ended to one side just now. I could look at ways of using it again though. (y)

I have a garden pond (unfiltered) of sorts but that is about 20 feet to the side of the hide. The fox enjoys that, as do the local hedgehogs and in the summer, the birds bathe in it. It's fairly big, probably about 8x6 ft, with tons of pond skaters :LOL:.

I wouldn't mind another pond though, maybe nearer the hide.
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Good to hear you've got a wildlife pond (y)

Mixing tray filled with water and a feeder pole placed 45 deg' so the food hangs central over the tray may work, but evaporation and only being shallow may not stop them for long as it'll just become a bird bath.

Edit - may work with a bit of netting across the top to stop the bathing
 
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I have to say that I would be more than a little miffed if someone condescended to give me an unasked for lecture about firearms security.



Not cool. Not cool at all.
 
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