Any good birdscaring tips?

[rogerthebodger]

Please don't: they are seriously anti-social. Someone with a mooring near mine had one and it was very seriously annoying, to put it politely, day and night.

Same as a slapping halyard.

 

[LittleSister]

Same as a slapping halyard.

No, worse: seems to travel further and be more penetrating.

 

[maby]

As a photographer at Dunsfold Aerodrome I often got lifts with ' the bird van ' - a Marina with a loudspeaker on top and a cassete player with choices like ' Kestrel, Curlew in Distress ' etc.

This seemed to have a minimal effect for a few minutes before the buggers flew back again.

Leading to a nasty accident but I'll leave that for now.

My wife did try downloading a recording of the call of some kind of raptor (sparrowhawk, I seem to remember) and playing it over the speakers in the cockpit - it did seem to have a useful effect, but I do suspect that the little sons of batchelors would get immune to it relatively quickly. The rubber snakes do seem to work for a long time - my wife moves them around every week and that seems to keep them noticed.

 

[shan]

What actually works?

Arriving at the boat this weekend we were faced with just a carpet of bird poo. Clearly the local Starlings or Swallows or whatever they were had been gorging on berries, then sitting on the boats in the yard to do their business. It was incredible. Most of the boats were just plastered with guano.
Over the 2 days it took us a total of over an hour to clean it all off, with plentiful use of cleaner...

I've now gone and bought a plastic owl, who has taken up residence on the boom, much to the amusement of the rest of the crew, but I have to be honest I'm not expecting great things....

Has anyone found a solution that actually works?

Probably not very helpful but it made Mrs Shan and I laugh. We were berthed in Swansea Marina a few years ago and this yacht (approximately 65ft) was berthed near us. We were sitting outside enjoying the last few rays of sunshine when suddenly there was this yelling and banging and what sounded like a Walrus roaring. The American chap on the yacht had charged outside and was banging on his mast with a rubber mallet and making a God awful racket at a couple of Seagulls perched on the spreaders. They nonchalantly peered down on him.... this happened a few times. He was only clothed in a towel wrapped around his waist at the time. :ambivalence: Hilarious.