Bird’s nest onboard - what to do?

update on the nesting wagtail or pipit - we were away in half term, then last Thursday was wet so my first opportunity to go sailing was yesterday (3 weeks to fledge and be gone!)
The nest was flat and empty. Looked abandoned. Figured they must have gone. It was very breezy so we just sailed on the jib.
We got back to the mooring and my sister straight away heard the chicks calling. They had been hiding down the roll of the sail. The mother appeared, darting around.
My weekend solo trip starts tomorrow until Monday. Seems I’ll be doing short trips from the mooring and back every 2 hours for feeding time. I got a picture. They are still very young so won’t be leaving for another 2 weeks at least.
 
Twenty years ago we visited a marina just west of Marseille where two pairs of Gannets had decided to nest on adjacent power boats, one pair on a bathing platform the other in the cockpit; they were apparently the 'only nesting/breeding Gannets in the Med'. The harbour had installed buoys to create an exclusion zone which made manoeuvring a bit tight, though not a problem the dozen or so boats on that pontoon needed to contend with as they weren't allowed onto their boats. They won't happy bunnies, no sailing for about four months, bird shit everywhere and still getting charged mooring fees
 
I have just released some birds from a small fishing boat on the Orwell, I saw them fluttering about in the windows, some were dead on the floor, the boat had a sliding door with a chain through the handle, but this allowed the door to open approx. 6 inches so the birds got into roost at dusk and probably due to a passing boats wash the door slid shut. Not a nice way to die in this heat.
 
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There is a thing called the ship’s cat, and exist for a good reason. I don’t charge much and don’t worry much about the law of the land.
 
jezjez said:
update on the nesting wagtail or pipit - we were away in half term, then last Thursday was wet so my first opportunity to go sailing was yesterday (3 weeks to fledge and be gone!)
The nest was flat and empty. Looked abandoned. Figured they must have gone. It was very breezy so we just sailed on the jib.
We got back to the mooring and my sister straight away heard the chicks calling. They had been hiding down the roll of the sail. The mother appeared, darting around.
My weekend solo trip starts tomorrow until Monday. Seems I’ll be doing short trips from the mooring and back every 2 hours for feeding time. I got a picture. They are still very young so won’t be leaving for another 2 weeks at least.
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Luckits notan Albatross
 
We had a robins nest in the boat shed this year, in the exhaust outlet of a blower fan sat on a shelf. Right over the bench.
The robins got used to us coming & going & hatched then fledged. We had three bumbling round the shed learning to fly.
We had a long tank of borate wood preserver set up to soak some bamboo spars & had covered it up well, Unfortunately one of the fledglings found a tiny gap in the plastic sheet & drowned in it. Still two survived!
 
I’ve just shaken the nest out of the sail, after about 6-8 weeks. I saw four little beaks three weeks ago but it’s all clear now. I was worried I might find one that hadn’t made it, but all four wagtail pipits have fledged and gone! Hurrah. The sail isn’t damaged. Just a bit brown in a small area. We are planning to replace it this winter anyway. All done!
 
That is quite quick - we have the big gulls - start nesting in late April and will be there until late September - or longer if they like your boat
 
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To be fair, the parents were hanging around all spring before I even realised what they were planning for my mainsail
 
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