Birdies

[glatt]

I've seen that on buildings, but don't recall seeing that on trees. They should have painted them black, it wouldn't look so bad and nobody would notice them.

[xoxoxoBruce]

If they were black the birds wouldn't have early warning and might get the shit scared out of them at the last minute, which kind of defeats the purpose.

[Carruthers]

The story moves on...

Thousands of people have signed a petition to remove anti-pigeon spikes placed on tree branches to stop birds pooing on cars.

They were put in trees on Pembroke Road, Clifton, by the management company of nearby Bartlett Court flats to protect residents' "expensive cars".

The move was criticised by wildlife experts and branded "idiotic".

The petition, signed by over 26,000 people, also calls for owners to find other methods to protect their cars.

Hillcrest Estate Management said it needed to protect vehicles at the "prestigious" development from roosting pigeons.

Bristol City Council said there is nothing it can do as the spikes are on private property.

The Care2 petition states: "The sense of entitlement these residents have shown by altering the ecosystem just to protect their Audis and BMWs is egregious.

"There are alternative solutions for protecting cars from bird droppings that don't involve domination over nature and wildlife."

A number of comments have also been left on the petition.

Daisy W wrote: "I live in Clifton and I am embarrassed and outraged by this. Who do some people think they are? This planet is the birds' too and the trees are their home."

The management company said it had tried a number of measures to deter the pigeons, including fake birds and noise deterrents, but had little success and installed the spikes in 2014.

In September, Stevenage Borough Council, in Hertfordshire, put spikes on a tree in the town centre to prevent "mess and disease".

Thousands oppose anti-pigeon spikes in Bristol trees

We had a similar brouhaha in a nearby town when a large flock of migratory starlings arrived in the area to take advantage of large crops of berries on the trees.
The inevitable fall out on cars caused one local resident, in high dudgeon, to demand that the trees the birds nested in should be chopped down.
It was winter, the flock would move on when the food ran out and the trees they nested in were in Germany and Poland.
Never let a few facts get in the way of righteous indignation. Or should that be self-righteous indignation?
I never know.

[xoxoxoBruce]

There's another story at your link.

Twenty five tonnes of "festering pigeon faeces" have been removed from an 675-year-old ancient English monument.

From the IOtD on Passenger Pigeons.

Let us now, kind reader, inspect their place of nightly rendezvous... The dung lay several inches deep, covering the whole extent of the roosting place, like a bed of snow... As the period of their arrival approached, their foes anxiously prepared to receive them. Some were furnished with iron pots containing sulphur, others with torches of pine knots, many with poles, and the rest with guns.. Suddenly there burst forth a general cry of “Here they come!” The noise which they made, though yet distant, reminded me of a hard gale at sea passing through the rigging of a close-reefed vessel. As the birds arrived and passed over me, I felt a current of air that surprised me. Thousands were soon knocked down by the pole men. The birds continued to pour in. The fires were lighted, and a magnificent as well as wonderful and almost terrifying sight presented itself. The pigeons, arriving by thousands, alighted everywhere, one above another, until solid masses as large as hogsheads were formed on the branches all round. Here and there the perches gave way under the weight with a crash and, falling to the ground, destroyed hundreds of the birds beneath, forcing down the dense groups with which every stick was loaded. It was a scene of uproar and confusion.

Bristol City Council said there is nothing it can do as the spikes are on private property.

Sounds like they have the option of cutting the trees down.

We've upset the balance and knocked down their predators, now the flocks will grow like Topsy.

[Carruthers]

Twenty five tonnes of "festering pigeon faeces" have been removed from an 675-year-old ancient English monument.

What a load of crap.

C'mon! Somebody had to say it.

[Carruthers]

As I mentioned Starlings in post 135, I thought that it might be worth including this video showing the behaviour of a large flock of the species (a murmuration) prior to roosting for the night beneath Aberystwyth pier on the west coast of Wales.

The resident population of the bird has declined dramatically in recent years to the extent that it is now on the Red List of endangered species and winter numbers are boosted by flocks from Scandinavia and Central Europe.

The flight patterns they make are something of a spectacle. Worth a few minutes of your time.



There's more here:

Aberystwyth Starlings

[xoxoxoBruce]

A conga line of drunken feathered revelers.

[Gravdigr]

[xoxoxoBruce]

I think this looks photoshopped...