Several years ago, my daughter informed me (with great excitement) there was a mourning dove nesting in my hanging fuchsia on the front balcony.
“No way,” I declared.
“Come see,” she insisted.
Sure enough, in the center of my prized fuchsia was a mourning dove, packing things down to make a nest. I wasn’t too pleased. I love my fuchsia and in my northern climate where one day it’s below 0-degrees Celsius and the next it’s 30 above, having a healthy, prolifically flowering fuchsia was a rarity.
It was a lovely plant, uninfected by the bugs or fungi that intense humidity usually encouraged. I guess the mourning dove felt the same as I did and picked the loveliest of my hanging fuchsias to build its nest.
I was saddened to see the deterioration of my fuchsia, but the disappointment was replaced with awe as we watched the mother bird care for her nest, and when they hatched, the baby birds testing their wings.
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这是一次学习的经历,但我不想重复。这些鸟造成的混乱不仅限于已经失去行动能力的紫红色。鸟粪和丢弃的种子凌乱地撒得到处都是。
I have bird feeders all around the house, and I enjoy watching the birds flock to my feeders, but I draw the line when they decide my space — my house — should be theirs.
I’m not vindictive and would never hurt a bird. However, after the mourning-dove-in-fuchsia experience, I was determined not to let other birds nest on my house or in my hanging pots. All my hanging pots now have plastic prongs sticking upward. It’s a deterrent which seems to discourage the birds from trying to nest.
This year’s issue was a couple of robins who insisted on building a nest on the bend in the downspout. Several times a day, I would brush away the nesting materials and hose it down, only to have to repeat the action the following day. I did some research, and that’s when I decided to get creative.
I discovered that birds don’t like shiny, noisy objects in locations where they eat or nest. I had already hung tinfoil plates around my vegetable garden, particularly around the tomatoes and green peppers. It worked well, but the nesting on the downspout presented a unique problem due to its location. I decided to try aluminum foil.
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我撕下一长条铝箔纸。然后,我沿着边缘剪条,只剪大约一半的宽度。现在,安装铝箔纸这样它就不会被吹走或者从落水管和房子外墙之间被拉出来。我记得曾经读到过,旧cd是一种很好的反光威慑,鸟儿都避开它们。我翻出一些旧cd,把梯子拉出来,开始安装我的飞鸟装置。
Once again, I cleared away the latest attempt to build a nest. Then I tucked the foil along the length of the downspout that had previously supported the nests, pushing the CDs into the foil, and making sure there were sufficient securing points. I left lots of flapping pieces of aluminum foil to create a maximum effect.
It took several tries because the location was awkward to reach. Finally satisfied I had done the best I could, I stepped off the ladder and studied my creation.
Standing well enough away, I watched and waited. Sure enough, the robins returned to try again. They arrived with beaks full of nesting material. Only, this time, they didn’t even land on the downspout. They turned around in disgust (or perhaps fear) and flew away to plant their nesting material somewhere else.
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I went inside and sat by the window to continue observing. The birds returned several times over the course of the day, arriving with beaks full of nesting material, only to immediately turn and fly elsewhere with beaks still full.
I watched the area over the next few days and was satisfied to observe no further nesting attempts in that location. Every time I approached the front of the house, I looked up and saw the flapping strands of foil doing the trick and thankfully, no dribbling pieces of grass or other nesting materials.
我决定在夏天剩下的时间里离开我的创作,因为我很清楚知更鸟可能会在晚些时候回来再试一次。如果没有别的原因,他们是有弹性的。和持久的。知更鸟还在附近,但它们不再试图在我的落水管上筑巢了。
As for altering my front décor? Not a problem.
My friend commented, quite honestly, “It looks good. Very artsy.”
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