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Reasons to feel despondent/guilty/frustrated

herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
in Wildlife gardening
Its that time of year again when birds keep flying into the patio doors. Despite many attempts with a variety of things it still happens a couple of times a week. So far no fatalities that I know of thank goodness so the streamers are slowing them down a bit at least but it still upsets me and makes me feel guilty 
"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
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  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Don't.  It happens here too but usually not at speeds high enough to break necks because it's usually the babies just learning   They even do it while we're out there, sitting on the terrace or working nearby.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    Thank you Obelixx, I can't help feeling bad for them.  It's always this time of year and I used to wonder if it was the position of the sun in the sky but I have decided it must just be all the babies as the reflection is worse in Autumn.  The babies give me the guilt trip.
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    It's randy wood pigeons around here that crash into my windows - frightens the living daylights out of me and the dog.
    Usually they are just stunned, but sometimes it doesn't work out so well.
    We're plagued with pigeons here - constant cooing from about 4am, fornicating non-stop, crapping everywhere, eating every green shoot that appears GRRRRR

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    It happens here too ... pigeons crash into our big studio window with monotonous regularity .... and they all shake they’d heads and fly off unscathed. The only ones that haven’t been ok after getting their breath have been a Jack Snipe, a waxwing and a song thrush ... all dead with broken necks 😭 

    We now have cutouts of birds of prey on the windows which does seem to help a bit. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    The pigeons have their fun on my library roof!  It's a flat roof extension and they sound like an army in big boots.  So far though they

    Wow that was uncanny. I was about to type they hadn't hit the patio door yet when two of them smacked into it together. That made me jump.  Both OK but one is sitting on the grass looking a bit stoned......
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Forgot to say we don't have huge windows here.  All new, some quite large but not full length and all have inner frames in the double glazing to make them look in keeping with the age of the house.

    We did have a full length door/window in our bedroom in our last house and one day a collared dove flew into it with such gust it left a perfect, dusty print of a dove on the glass.  Briefly stunned but then flew away.   I left the imprnt on the windo for ages to deter others.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    We have the same problem here with very wide windows/patio doors in the front and sides but I've given up trying to do much about it. If it's very sunny and there are baby birds around, I do draw a secondary layer of blue voile curtains across, which I think helps a little bit as it cuts down on the reflections - the birds seem to think they can fly right through the house!

    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • GemmaJFGemmaJF Posts: 2,286
    We have the same here, had first fatality of the year last week, blue tit, such a shame when it was likely a parent with hungry mouths waiting for it to return.
  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    Ok, the guilt is mounting again.  Like the poor birds don't have enough obstacles to overcome,  makes you wonder how many die across the country since we are quite a small sample.
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    The UV stickers seem to have worked really well for us, I can't remember the last time we had a bird hit the windows. There's a lovely imprint of a pigeon on the neighbours' patio doors though.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
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