dave wrote:
Anyone know of a place that sells models of birds? Am being driven nuts pigeon
(noise) population in garden - and would like to see if eg a sparrowhawk sitting
there might put them off :-) Well, I'd be fun to try. Google keeps finding
aircraft!

ps Anyone tried a "silent" untrasonic bird scarer? Any success? The ones I've
seen cost ~£200 which is a bit much just to try it out.

I'd be very surprised if it works.

My office block has a large central courtyard of approx 50m on each
side. We have had great trouble getting rid of the doves and pigeons
that deposit vast amounts of guano on the window sun screens.

We now have two motorized (flapping wings and moving heads) models of
female-sized Peregrine falcons fixed to poles at gutter height in the
courtyard. Periodically they utter a sound that is supposed to be an
accurate reproduction of a male Peregrine calling and move their
wings/heads. Apparently female Peregrines are bigger than males but the
males are more of a threat to pigeons/doves! The noise sounds like a
strangled duck and the pigeons etc take no notice of them.

HTH

Richard

--
Real email address is RJSavage at BIGFOOT dot COM

The information contained in this post
may not be published in, or used by

http://www.diyprojects.info

"dave" wrote in message
...
Anyone know of a place that sells models of birds? Am being driven nuts
pigeon
(noise) population in garden - and would like to see if eg a sparrowhawk
sitting
there might put them off :-)

My garden appears to be within the hunting range of a real sparrowhawk. I
doubt a model will be as effective.

Colin Bignell

In article ,
dave wrote:
Anyone know of a place that sells models of birds? Am being driven nuts
pigeon (noise) population in garden - and would like to see if eg a
sparrowhawk sitting there might put them off :-) Well, I'd be fun to
try. Google keeps finding aircraft!

ps Anyone tried a "silent" untrasonic bird scarer? Any success? The ones
I've seen cost ~£200 which is a bit much just to try it out.

Nothing puts off pigeons other than mechanical means. They're too stupid.

--
*Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"nightjar .uk.com" nightjar@insert_my_surname_here wrote in message
Anyone know of a place that sells models of birds? Am being driven nuts
pigeon
(noise) population in garden - and would like to see if eg a sparrowhawk
sitting
there might put them off :-)

My garden appears to be within the hunting range of a real sparrowhawk. I
doubt a model will be as effective.

A sparrowhawk sometimes takes blue tits here, probably other birds too but
those are the only ones I've seen it/them eating.

Our garden is alive with house sparrows, dunnocks, blue, cole and long
tailed tits, blackbirds, collar doves, magpies, feral pigeons (rock doves),
woodpigeons and our two bantams. None of those seem to be put off by the
actual presence of the hawk/s.

Also flying around are crows and gulls, they don't cause any havoc either.

Mary

Colin Bignell

dave wrote:
Anyone know of a place that sells models of birds? Am being driven nuts pigeon
(noise) population in garden - and would like to see if eg a sparrowhawk sitting
there might put them off :-) Well, I'd be fun to try. Google keeps finding
aircraft!

ps Anyone tried a "silent" untrasonic bird scarer? Any success? The ones I've
seen cost ~£200 which is a bit much just to try it out.

How about an air rifle? That is if it is safe to shoot them.

It doesn't take Pigeons long to keep their distance once they have been
shot at.

The ones round here are very wary and never come within range.


/Heds

O
males are more of a threat to pigeons/doves! The noise sounds like a
strangled duck and the pigeons etc take no notice of them.

HTH

Richard

Of course not !, real predators move around all over the place.

Dave

--
For what we are about to balls up may common sense prevent us doing it
again
in the future!!

Mary Fisher wrote:


"nightjar .uk.com" nightjar@insert_my_surname_here wrote in message
Anyone know of a place that sells models of birds? Am being driven nuts
pigeon
(noise) population in garden - and would like to see if eg a sparrowhawk
sitting
there might put them off :-)

My garden appears to be within the hunting range of a real sparrowhawk. I
doubt a model will be as effective.

A sparrowhawk sometimes takes blue tits here, probably other birds too but
those are the only ones I've seen it/them eating.

Our garden is alive with house sparrows, dunnocks, blue, cole and long
tailed tits, blackbirds, collar doves, magpies, feral pigeons (rock
doves), woodpigeons and our two bantams. None of those seem to be put off
by the actual presence of the hawk/s.

Also flying around are crows and gulls, they don't cause any havoc either.

Mary

Colin Bignell

We were surprised recently to see a sparrowhawk plucking a collared dove on
our lawn. It seemed a large bird for the hawk. The dove was still
fluttering as the hawk gradually dragged it about 30ft to some bushes. Some
hours later the hawk was still under the bushes with its prey - I saw it
looking fierce when I went to the compost heap a few feet away.

The hawk is fairly regular and has been seen sitting on top of a bird
feeder. After it has passed small birds tend to stay very still for about
20min.

Nevertheless the garden is usually full of birds from wrens to pigeons. They
don't seem deterred. I'd doubt a model would continue to work even if it
did to start off.

The pigeons don't even seem to care that cats continually wander around
hunting.

Edgar

"Edgar Iredale" wrote in message news:d2unu1$rd9

We were surprised recently to see a sparrowhawk plucking a collared dove
on
our lawn. It seemed a large bird for the hawk.

But the hawk is equipped for dealing with prey, the dove isn't even equipped
to defend itself. I once watched a pair of crows taking the hatchlings from
a collar doves' nest, it was a harrowing spectacle and I could do nothing
about it ... the parents, in our terms, were distraught.

They nested in the same tree the following year and they or others still do.

The hawk is fairly regular and has been seen sitting on top of a bird
feeder. After it has passed small birds tend to stay very still for about
20min.

They don't keep away though!

Nevertheless the garden is usually full of birds from wrens to pigeons.
They
don't seem deterred. I'd doubt a model would continue to work even if it
did to start off.

Yes, I forgot wrens and robin/s in our garden.

The pigeons don't even seem to care that cats continually wander around
hunting.

No, even though cats have been seen to take the odd bird.

It's like sheep, cattle or deer, one of their number can be walked up to and
shot in a field and the others carry on grazing.

Mary

Edgar

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message

ps Anyone tried a "silent" untrasonic bird scarer? Any success? The ones
I've seen cost ~£200 which is a bit much just to try it out.

Nothing puts off pigeons other than mechanical means. They're too stupid.

No, they're too clever. They're survivors.

Mary

"Heds" hedleyDOTphillips@SPAMcomsaDOTcoDOTuk wrote in message
...
dave wrote:
Anyone know of a place that sells models of birds? Am being driven nuts
pigeon
(noise) population in garden - and would like to see if eg a sparrowhawk
sitting
there might put them off :-) Well, I'd be fun to try. Google keeps
finding
aircraft! ps Anyone tried a "silent" untrasonic bird scarer? Any success?
The ones I've
seen cost ~£200 which is a bit much just to try it out.

How about an air rifle? That is if it is safe to shoot them.

It doesn't take Pigeons long to keep their distance once they have been
shot at.

Only the ones which have been shot :-)

The ones round here are very wary and never come within range.

I don't believe that.

Mary

In message , dave
writes
Anyone know of a place that sells models of birds? Am being driven nuts pigeon
(noise) population in garden - and would like to see if eg a
sparrowhawk sitting
there might put them off :-) Well, I'd be fun to try. Google keeps finding
aircraft!

ps Anyone tried a "silent" untrasonic bird scarer? Any success? The ones I've
seen cost ~£200 which is a bit much just to try it out.

Germans use silhouettes of birds of prey on windows to keep small birds
away

try that first

--
geoff

"raden" wrote in message
...


Germans use silhouettes of birds of prey on windows to keep small birds
away

try that first

Do they work?

Mary

--
geoff

Mary Fisher wrote:
"Heds" hedleyDOTphillips@SPAMcomsaDOTcoDOTuk wrote in message
...

dave wrote:

Anyone know of a place that sells models of birds? Am being driven nuts
pigeon
(noise) population in garden - and would like to see if eg a sparrowhawk
sitting
there might put them off :-) Well, I'd be fun to try. Google keeps
finding
aircraft! ps Anyone tried a "silent" untrasonic bird scarer? Any success?
The ones I've
seen cost ~£200 which is a bit much just to try it out.


How about an air rifle? That is if it is safe to shoot them.

It doesn't take Pigeons long to keep their distance once they have been
shot at.


Only the ones which have been shot :-)

The ones round here are very wary and never come within range.


I don't believe that.

Mary


Tis true, the birds round here will not come within air rifle range of
any of the houses here as they have been shot at too often.

And it is not just the ones that have been shot at, others in the area
will also learn to give the house a wide 'zone of safety' as soon as
they start hearing the crack of the discharge.

It is most frustrating as I love eating Pigeon. All the other birds are
tamer, including the Pheasant and Doves. I don't shoot these in the garden.

/Heds

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...

"raden" wrote in message
...


Germans use silhouettes of birds of prey on windows to keep small birds
away

try that first

Do they work?

Must do, the few germans I know have all got wifes over 6' tall ;-)

Regards Jeff

"Jeff" wrote in message
.. .



Germans use silhouettes of birds of prey on windows to keep small birds
away

try that first

Do they work?

Must do, the few germans I know have all got wifes over 6' tall ;-)

LOL!

But I've seen those things in windows here, Mrs Next-Door-But-One has one.
She still gets birds of all kinds. She also has one of those model cats with
green eyes.

But she also puts our bread ...

None so queer as folks!

Mary

Regards Jeff

Dave Stanton wrote:
O
Richard


Of course not !, real predators move around all over the place.

Dave


Well at least one bod has convinced enough customers that his electric
birds are a sufficient deterent for hin to make a living selling or
renting out these abominations.

Oh and he moves them round the courtyard every couple of weeks!

When I worked in Whitehall a firm called IIRC Flypast periodically
appeared. Their pigeon solution was (is) a man with a trained falcon.

Richard



--
Real email address is RJSavage at BIGFOOT dot COM

The information contained in this post
may not be published in, or used by

http://www.diyprojects.info

If it was that easy then airports would not have to resort to explosive
devises

Regards Jeff

"Richard" wrote in message
...
Dave Stanton wrote:
O
Richard


Of course not !, real predators move around all over the place.

Dave


Well at least one bod has convinced enough customers that his electric
birds are a sufficient deterent for hin to make a living selling or
renting out these abominations.

Some people will believe anything.

The election's going to be on 5 May, in case you didn't know.

Mary

"Jeff" wrote in message
.. .
If it was that easy then airports would not have to resort to explosive
devises

Quite.

Mary

Regards Jeff

In message , Jeff
writes
If it was that easy then airports would not have to resort to explosive
devises

Now there's an idea, the Airbus sparrowhawk

--
geoff

In message , Mary
Fisher writes

"raden" wrote in message
...


Germans use silhouettes of birds of prey on windows to keep small birds
away

try that first

Do they work?

Mary

No idea

--
geoff

In article ,
Mary Fisher wrote:
ps Anyone tried a "silent" untrasonic bird scarer? Any success? The
ones I've seen cost ~£200 which is a bit much just to try it out.

Nothing puts off pigeons other than mechanical means. They're too
stupid.

No, they're too clever. They're survivors.

Because they breed fast and eat almost anything. Nothing to do with
intelligence.

--
*Windows will never cease *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In message , dave
writes
On Tue, 05 Apr 2005 23:08:40 GMT, raden wrote:

In message , Mary
Fisher writes

"raden" wrote in message
...


Germans use silhouettes of birds of prey on windows to keep small birds
away

try that first

Do they work?

Mary

No idea

Just to add to my misery (should please you Mary) there is also some
kind of tit
(certainly is) here that makes the same repeated sound all day long, It a small
bird but must be incredible efficent at producing sound. I now have a fantasy
about placing it in a giant catapult and firing up in to the stratosphere.

It's Ok, Mary normally just has her arse in the air

we're still awaiting the photos though

--
geoff

dave wrote:
... To be
fair to the pigeons ... it's the old dear nextdoor who keeps putting
bags of birdseed out for them that's causing the problem.

Only one big target for an air rifle then, problem solved :-)

Owain

"dave" wrote in message
...

We were surprised recently to see a sparrowhawk plucking a collared dove
on
our lawn. It seemed a large bird for the hawk.

But the hawk is equipped for dealing with prey, the dove isn't even
equipped
to defend itself. I once watched a pair of crows taking the hatchlings
from
a collar doves' nest, it was a harrowing spectacle and I could do nothing
about it ...

Pigeons are filthy creatures - good ridance..

I said collar doves.

Pigeons (rock doves) are not filthy creatures. We eat them.

the parents, in our terms, were distraught.

Don't both about it. 5 seconds later they'll have forgotten all about it
and be
at it again. They are birds - not human beings Mary. I don't like to see
suffering mind - even I'm not that bad.

They hadn't forgotten about it. I kept a timed record of the whole incident;
from the first attack to when the doves disappeared from the garden was over
two hours. I sent it to the BTO, they said it was typical of such incidents.

I'm very aware what a bird is but why should they forget about their young?
They have invested a lot into their production, as with humans re-generation
is their only purpose and of course they're going to be disturbed by their
purpose being frustrated.

They nested in the same tree the following year and they or others still
do.

Of course they will. These are not intellectual giants.

Man continues building dwellings in earthquake regions and flood plains ...

I saw a pigeon get run
over as it seemed to think the wheel of a Thames van was no match for it.

I bow to your greater intellect, I have no way of knowing how to judge the
working of a pigeon's mind. I suppose it takes one to know one ...

It's
fellow pigeons were there straight away (in the traffic) pecking away at
what he
was trying to eat! Yuk!

Some humans eat things they buy from Tesco ...


The hawk is fairly regular and has been seen sitting on top of a bird
feeder. After it has passed small birds tend to stay very still for
about
20min.


I wish I had a real hawk here.

What's your problem with birds?

Mary

"dave" wrote in message
news

Our garden is alive with house sparrows, dunnocks, blue, cole and long
tailed tits, blackbirds, collar doves, magpies, feral pigeons (rock
doves),
woodpigeons and our two bantams.

Must be up to your neck it it!

Oh you are so silly!

None of those seem to be put off by the
actual presence of the hawk/s.

Yeah birds are pretty stupid creatures. Bird brain is right - even the
risk of
being eaten alive does put em off :-)

I take it you don't drive then.

Mary

"dave" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Apr 2005 18:07:04 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"

wrote:

In article ,
dave wrote:
Anyone know of a place that sells models of birds? Am being driven nuts
pigeon (noise) population in garden - and would like to see if eg a
sparrowhawk sitting there might put them off :-) Well, I'd be fun to
try. Google keeps finding aircraft!

ps Anyone tried a "silent" untrasonic bird scarer? Any success? The ones
I've seen cost ~£200 which is a bit much just to try it out.

Nothing puts off pigeons other than mechanical means. They're too stupid.

How right you are. I know it really - I was just dreaming of a solution. I
work
nights, get to bed at 04:00 - waken at about 06:00 by the noise. I've even
built
rockwool-filled panels I can lift into the window to reduce the sound. To
be
fair to the pigeons (I don't really want to be you understand), it's the
old
dear nextdoor who keeps putting bags of birdseed out for them that's
causing the
problem. Letters from the council saying not to do this (disease etc etc)
this
don't put her off from doing it anyway. Joking aside, it's really is
tortu
2-3 hrs sleep per night!

Earplugs.

Mary

"dave" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 5 Apr 2005 21:30:14 +0100, "Mary Fisher"

wrote:


"Heds" hedleyDOTphillips@SPAMcomsaDOTcoDOTuk wrote in message
...
dave wrote:
Anyone know of a place that sells models of birds? Am being driven nuts
pigeon
(noise) population in garden - and would like to see if eg a
sparrowhawk
sitting
there might put them off :-) Well, I'd be fun to try. Google keeps
finding
aircraft! ps Anyone tried a "silent" untrasonic bird scarer? Any
success?
The ones I've
seen cost ~£200 which is a bit much just to try it out.

How about an air rifle? That is if it is safe to shoot them.

It doesn't take Pigeons long to keep their distance once they have been
shot at.

Only the ones which have been shot :-)

The ones round here are very wary and never come within range.

I don't believe that.

Mary

As hard as I find this to say, I agree with Mary. Hang on, in one post you
say
they are "too clever" and now seem to be saying they are stupid. Perhaps
you can
explain how coming within range of a rifle is something a "survivor" does?

You really don't read do you?

I said, "Only the ones which have never been shot :-)"

"dave" wrote in message
...



Just to add to my misery (should please you Mary) there is also some kind
of tit
(certainly is) here that makes the same repeated sound all day long,

Only for a short time. It's part of it's breeding ritual. Men do the same
.... sigh

It a small
bird but must be incredible efficent at producing sound.

They're good at all sorts of things, have to be.

I now have a fantasy
about placing it in a giant catapult and firing up in to the stratosphere.

The space would be filled by others. Nature abbhors a vacuum. And in fact if
it's such a small bird why do you need a giant catapult? You really don't
make sense.

Mary

In article ,
dave wrote:
To be fair to the pigeons (I don't really want to be you understand),
it's the old dear nextdoor who keeps putting bags of birdseed out for
them that's causing the problem.

Can't you persuade her to use a bird feeder? I have one, but the pigeons
can't get at it. Just the smaller quiet birds. ;-)

No sparrows round here - although I quite like their twittering. I can
understand pigeons annoying.

--
*I'm really easy to get along with once people learn to worship me

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Mary Fisher wrote:


Some people will believe anything.

The election's going to be on 5 May, in case you didn't know.

Mary



Indeed, but I have a postal vote so there is no knowing for whom my vote
will be registered!

Richard ;-)

PS My employer is HMG! Need I say more?

R

--
Real email address is RJSavage at BIGFOOT dot COM

The information contained in this post
may not be published in, or used by

http://www.diyprojects.info

dave wrote:
On Tue, 05 Apr 2005 23:08:40 GMT, raden wrote:


In message , Mary
Fisher writes

"raden" wrote in message
...


Germans use silhouettes of birds of prey on windows to keep small birds
away

try that first

Do they work?

Mary

No idea


Just to add to my misery (should please you Mary) there is also some kind of tit
(certainly is) here that makes the same repeated sound all day long, It a small
bird but must be incredible efficent at producing sound. I now have a fantasy
about placing it in a giant catapult and firing up in to the stratosphere.


What you could try if you are up for ringing a couple of bird necks is
trapping them. As you say you can't shoot them any more but building
some sort of trap for them shouldn't be to hard. If you use seed and
design it right you could probably catch just pigeons as well. It
actually sounds like quite an interesting DIY project.

Personally I would rather have the birds but each to their own.

"Richard" wrote in message
...
Mary Fisher wrote:


Some people will believe anything.

The election's going to be on 5 May, in case you didn't know.

Mary



Indeed, but I have a postal vote so there is no knowing for whom my vote
will be registered!

Richard ;-)

PS My employer is HMG! Need I say more?

Well, I don't know if that means you do or don't believe anything :-)

Mary

R

--
Real email address is RJSavage at BIGFOOT dot COM

The information contained in this post
may not be published in, or used by

http://www.diyprojects.info

Mary Fisher wrote:


Well, I don't know if that means you do or don't believe anything :-)

Mary



Surely that depends upon who is running the election, Comrade ;-

--
Real email address is RJSavage at BIGFOOT dot COM

The information contained in this post
may not be published in, or used by

http://www.diyprojects.info

"Richard" wrote in message
...
Mary Fisher wrote:


Well, I don't know if that means you do or don't believe anything :-)

Mary



Surely that depends upon who is running the election, Comrade ;-

You're from Birmingham then ... :-)

Mary

--
Real email address is RJSavage at BIGFOOT dot COM

The information contained in this post
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http://www.diyprojects.info

Mary Fisher wrote:



You're from Birmingham then ... :-)

Mary


I'm not even going to attempt a written Brum accent, let alone speak in one!

Richard ;-)


--
Real email address is RJSavage at BIGFOOT dot COM

The information contained in this post
may not be published in, or used by

http://www.diyprojects.info

"Richard" wrote in message
...
Mary Fisher wrote:



You're from Birmingham then ... :-)

Mary


I'm not even going to attempt a written Brum accent, let alone speak in
one!

LOL!

It was a political jibe and I shouldn't have done it, no offence meant to
you.

Mary

Richard ;-)


--
Real email address is RJSavage at BIGFOOT dot COM

The information contained in this post
may not be published in, or used by

http://www.diyprojects.info

snip
I'm not even going to attempt a written Brum accent, let alone speak in
one!


The question though is this - why do people attempting to put on a
Brummy accent nearly always sound like they come from India? One of
lifes great mysteries.

Mary Fisher wrote:



LOL!

It was a political jibe and I shouldn't have done it, no offence meant to
you.

Mary



Hi Mary,

Very difficult, if not actually impossible, to cause me any offence!

None taken in any event.

Richard :-)

--
Real email address is RJSavage at BIGFOOT dot COM

The information contained in this post
may not be published in, or used by

http://www.diyprojects.info