Some of the most common birds here at the refuge are Cliff Swallows. Some folks call these "Mud Swallows", because of their jug-shaped mud nests. As their name implies, these birds originally built their nests on rock faces, but now utilize bridges, culverts, and the eaves of homes and buildings.
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| Nests at the refuge manager's home |
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| See the Cliff Swallow adults in the nests? |
We have a large group of swallows nesting under the overhangs of the Visitor Center. The refuge folks are OK with the group nesting over the back patio, but nests under the front overhang have led to big messes over the front doors. So the nests have been removed (before egg laying) to keep things a bit more tidy.
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| Nests on the back patio of the Visitors Center |
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| Mess under the nests |
Removing nests is a time-consuming chore, so the long-term solution is to add "Nixalite" Bird Barrier Spikes. These are stainless steel spike strips that prevent the birds from landing and starting new nests. Teri and I were given the task of getting these installed. It wasn't a difficult job, but the spikes were needle-sharp and tricky to work with.
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| Big box of finger pokers!! |
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| Lots of mounting hardware |
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| The business end of the strip |
Teri handled all of the hardware, and I did the ladder work. A little measuring, installation of the mounting hardware, and then snap the strips into place. Gloves were vitally important for this job!!
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| Snapping the strip into the hardware |
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| Repeat for about 30 feet |
We were pleased so see that the spike strips are not too noticeable unless you are really looking for them.
On to the next project!!
I've never seen these bird "deter" strips before. Looks like a great way to keep them from nesting where you don't want them. It'll be interesting to see what your next project will be ;-)
ReplyDeleteWe put up some finger poker stuff last year over the bathrooms at Arapaho. When we returned this year we found there were a couple of smart birds that actually used it to help support their nests. But it did deter about 95% of them.
ReplyDeleteVirginia
Smart birds!! The stuff we received actually suggested two or three rows of the spikes, but we decided to just put up the single row to see if it worked that way. If not I suppose they'll add the second/third row.
ReplyDeleteMark