General Chat

At the end of Feb I contacted the RSPB to find out how to deter gulls nesting on my roof.
I had spikes put on the apex and chimney and spiders fixed on paving slabs put on my front and back dormers.

It is a bona fide firm and fair play to them they have been back 3 times.
They repositioned the spiders and replaced the spikes that had come off the chimney.that didn't deter some of them...I think mainly the same couple that were so comfortable last year who were determined to make it their home again.

The regional manager came with another worker and they put a few more spikes and some reflective gel in little pots like tea lights that they said to a gull these would look as if the roof was on fire.....HaHa!

They wakened me up yesterday at 7.00am and I saw one bringing moss in his mouth.

I went out later and saw one sitting on my back dormer.took a picture.
Called the manager again and he is contacting me on Weds.

I paid £800 for this as last year I was wakened in the early hours with the pitter Patter of tiny feet and noises.I was bombed when I went up my garden path when the chicks were trying to fly.

ONE of my neighbours feeds them even though I have told her.

I love birds and have swifts and house martins nesting under the eaves which are no trouble,but gulls are a menace these days,as they are used to fast food and don't seem to go out feeding on the fish as they should and folk feeding them crusts etc.

Rant over...good to get it off my chest! :-S

Maybe this will help you feel better, clamp on the headphones and relax.
http://www.radioseagull.com/popup-player.htm

In France we have a lot of seagulls of various sorts which my cats hate and fear. They are a bit of a pain and def. a good reason to avoid metallic car colors but I'd never put up spikes or anything like that. I have noticed that they cannot stand on the solar panels but slide off so maybe that's a pointer - smooth shiny roofs.

In the summer they fly off back to the sea and make life tough for the denizens of Dieppe.

I am not harming them Rollo...just deterring them from my roof.

The spikes are on the apex the spiders are just like an upside down spider with legs,not sharp ,but with shiny balls on the end.

If you had the lack of sleep during the summer like I had last year and then. Every time you went into the garden you were swooped by the mother protecting her chicks you would look into how to stop them without other worse methods.

This was recommended by the RSPB.
They will go on some other roof I suppose

They also dropped moss and rubbish on to my conservatory roof,blocked the downspout and then when the wind blew in the wintertime rain we had this year leaked into my conservatory.

I have lived by the sea since 1962 and never had the problems I'm encountering now.

Brenda
I do hope you get the problem sorted soon.
Take care
Von

For whatever reason - climate change, over fishing ? - there have been some big changes in the distribution of marine fauna in the North Atlantic and the North Sea. The consequences have been that the food is not available where/when it is normally found or not available at all. This has dire consequences for many bird species ( inc seagulls) and even starving whales which are being forced into the North Sea where they get lost and stranded.

The seagulls are just trying to survive. Their racket does not bother me over much and I dislike eating outside.

Our roofs in France are > 100 years old and the repairs and moss don't seem to do much harm. I would like a new roof but need to win the lottery first! Meanwhile the roof and the outbuildings have been adopted by swallows, seagulls, red wings, owls, bats. The herons who nest nearby are also very messy. There is a church across the road with a full set of bells. Rural peace?

Even if you shot all the seagulls all that would change would be a new lot. They are inedible in case you thought of giving them a try. Ear plugs?

I don't mind moss on my roof,but blocking my downspout on conservatory wasn't something I thought of.I brought a builder out to look at the seals on my roof and he discovered what had happened .. the leak had ruined a rug.

A child last year lost an eye on the promenade when a seagull swooped and took his ice cream.In fact the council are fining people on the promenade in a popular seaside resort near me...and there is one road where the postmen won't go because of the way the gulls are swooping on them.

I can put up with their racket if it is not as soon as dawn,which in the summer is very early .
I love the call of the wood pigeon and the dawn chorus,but when the nest of baby gulls is directly above your head the noise at 3.0am disturbs sleep,which at my age of almost 81 is very precious.

I live alone and it is frightening to be swooped at by an angry gull parent.
I put up for years with my car being a target and continually having to clean off the mess,but since my husband died I have cleared the garage and my car lives in there and thank goodness ,it stays cleaner,but it was the last straw when I had to watch out if there was a gull about!

Brenda
I do sympathize and I know just how you feel.

Around here the gulls appoint themselves as 'watchmen' and create a racket whatever time of day or night that someone dares to walk up the path to 'their' house.
Even if I pop out to post a letter, the call goes out that someone is on 'their' territory.

You are right. It's much worse in recent years. I've lived near the sea for most of my life and although we are now a few miles from the coast, nearby rooftops are much favoured for nesting....something I've never encountered until more recently.

I was brought up not to eat or drink on the street my mother considered it vulgar ... inc ice creams on the prom. I thought she was the Iron Maiden but I don't eat on the street or discard half eaten burgers.Neither do my grown up kids.

The bill from replacing a lot of C19 lead guttering with ersatz of the same ( in pvc ) following a few blockages and tasty insurance claims is why I cannot fund fixing the roof. Never buy a house in a heritage zone especially if it is ancient 'cos you need planning permission even to paint the door. Anyway the new guttering doesn't block up so badly. I had to put grids in the chimneys 'cos the birds were nesting in them !

Don't get me wrong I am not a close-up seagull fan and landside people are prob. not aware that gulls have always been violent robbers of anything on a boat which looks edible, in yr hand or not. Grr.

Given that the seagulls are faced with a choice between starving and easy pickings in seaside towns it is pretty obvious which they will choose. The council won't spend a fortune on gull control and will be far more likely to come down hard on litter and such.

It's not really fair but the the phrase "wily old bird" has been with us a long while.

I think I'm the wily old bird Rollo.
I had to think of. A Solution as Comfort is at the top of my list now.
Most folk would have Spent money on some material thing or a holiday,but I wanted to be reassured...ah well....I think some more oldies near here will watch to see if this works for me....actually I am a guinea pig!!
lol
;-)

Someone less charitable than myself might suggest getting a powerful air rifle. Not me of course. By the way, should I still be feeding the songbirds in the garden now that spring and the nesting season is here? On the feeder we have several species of tit, robins, wrens, sparrows, blackcaps among others. We also get a lot of magpies, crows, rooks and even parakeets. None of the songbirds have ever successfully raised young due to the corvids and squirrels.

We had them when we were living in the apartment right on the coast.

Even with pest control measures they were encouraged by idiots feeding them and so of course they tend to congregate wherever there is a chance of handy food.

We have seen parents with young children throwing food and the parents wonder why the evil things are flying at the children who were screaming.

Personally I could have shot the lot!

I love 'em :-)

Give me the choice between the screeching of the gulls back in Wales and the screeching of the kids in the park and I know which I'd choose ;-)

I was in Chelmsford at the weekend and walking past the Cathedral, remarked on the amount of gulls swooping about, thet were so noisy.

Hope you can find a way to deter them, Brenda

Lizxx

air rifle pellets Bob,
when fired,must NOT leave the boundary of your premises...and shooting at birds on the roof /fence,will surely have some pellets go astray......

A herring gull is a tough proposition and unlikely to succumb from an air rifle pellet. OTOH the pellet may leave the bird injured and suffering - illegal. The only air guns with sufficient power to knock over a herring gull in the UK require a full firearms cert. Using such weapons for pest control requires a license.

Herring gulls are not though regarded as a pest in law as are rats. They are a protected species ( as are all gulls, puffins, cormorants, gannets etc etc) and they may not be disturbed when breeding, raising chicks. It is perfectly legal to install stuff on the roof to put them off but it is easier said than done.

The gulls and their racket and mess are part of life as Rambling Rose says. Local councils for sure are not going to spend money on eradicating gulls - even supposing they succeeded in one place very quickly more would move in from elsewhere. The legality of such a measure would also be dodgy.

The only real world options are to drastically reduce the amount of free food lying around especially fast food, get tough on littering and so on, wear ear protectors .... or move house.

By and large people living with constant noises - trains, church bells, mosques, birds, factories, schools - get accustomed to the local racket and it does not especially bother them. Gulls don't bother me all that much and certainly don't wake me up. That must go for most otherwise there would be a mass exodus from seaside towns.

Has Brenda tried a tenor sax at 4am ? If she did what effect did it have on the gulls? And the neighbors?

for all Bird lovers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r4hs-yL6Zw

This is what our North Wales newspapers are saying......
I have just come in from shopping and my neighbour on the phone to say my gulls are back
.some other solution...like.a Falcon they use on some commercial buildings???


http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/conwy-wants-seagull-committee-tackle-11207311

:-\

ah yes how very British, set up a committee and if that doesn't work set up another two or three lol. Is the link meant to be funny or is that accidental ?

I like Llandudno, the Great Orme and so on it is a time warp to sunny days with donkeys and Harry Secombe singing in the Pier Theatre. Days without crazed herring gulls ...

As the council seems to realise it is powerless to act. Here is the root of the problem

"Our seas are in deep trouble.
Seabirds sit at the top of a marine food chain that is under serious pressure. Many are starving and failing to raise young because they simply cannot find enough food in the sea. "

https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/whatwedo/northernireland/conservationinnorthernireland/

I have gone along with the racket and mess for over 50 years and never complained until now....
..the noise of them up in the air and from a distance is OK.but...lwhen it is directly above your head at some unearthly hour with chicks in the nest...the rubbish that was all over my conservatory and the rubbish blocking the downspout and causing a leak inside on my laminate floor and ruining a rug.some action had to be taken,as I dont want a repeat of last summer.

Anyway will let you know what the birdman says tomorrow when he calls. ;-)

My post about the air rifle was meant to be tongue in cheek.

##Lullaby of Birdman, whisper low.............##