The mirror is one of those that looks like a church window, so lots of cross and upright bars breaking up the reflected image, and I had put it slightly behind a Japanese Maple so there wouldn't have been a direct line of flight for any bird to injure itself.
Unfortunately I haven't seen any of the Blue Tits since I took it down so it looks like they may have decided to nest elsewhere.
It's a shame because, in all the advice I have seen that suggests a mirror is a good way of making a small garden look bigger, no-one has ever mentioned the effect it may have on some birds. None of the other birds that come in have paid any attention to it at all, only the Blue Tits but, perhaps, that is because they were checking out the nest box that's on the house.
Having removed the mirror, the birds will have noticed that something has changed and they may hold back for a while. Soon as they get used to the mirror not being there I'm sure your box will be checked out again soon by prospective tenants
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
We have a pied wagtail that insists on fighting our wingmirrors.. and making a lot of mess while he does!
I've got the same! My wing-mirrors fold-in, but the PW's are still attacking them. I've tied a plastic carrier bag to each mirror and that's stopped it Bless There's a rookery at the end of my road and last year they took offence to the little aerial stub on the roof of my car! it looks like it been chewed. Plastic bags worked for that too.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
At work one year there was a robin that would attack his reflection in the wingmirrors of whichever two cars parked at the top end of one section of the staff car park. We put plastic bags over them as @pete8 suggests,and that worked.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
It's a long-tailed tit here, fighting its reflection in the rear (north-facing, so quite dark) room windows. I've even stood directly behind waving my hands close to the glass and tried rapping it with my knuckles, but it is oblivious to me and all it can 'see' is a rival!
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
We've got big 6ft wide windows all round the house including two opposite each other so the birds think they can fly straight through. There's no easy answer to stopping the birds from hitting the windows occasionally, I don't like those black window stickers at all.
Our stickers aren't black ... they're actually two -ided photographs of real raptors. Clear windows would look nicer than the stickers, but a terrace without dead bodies is infinitely preferable.
If you have ever driven thru a Wildlife Park in which there are free roaming Peacocks, you may have noticed that the Peacocks will attack your wing mirrors - convinced there is an intruder which needs sorting out. Smaller birds react in the same manner - they are unable to differentiate between an image or a real bird. It is not always possible to stop some birds crashing into house /GH glass but it can be mitigated by using various images/materials to reduce the risk. Whilst mirrors can certainly add to a garden design, the disadvantages should be made clear in any wildlife/garden design forums/TV shows to make gardeners aware.
Having removed the mirror, the birds will have noticed that something has changed and they may hold back for a while. Soon as they get used to the mirror not being there I'm sure your box will be checked out again soon by prospective tenants
That makes sense. I have seen one Blue Tit back in the garden this morning, but not at the nest box yet. All my fingers are crossed that I haven't scared them off entirely.
Posts
https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/ask-an-expert/previous/mirror.aspx
Having removed the mirror, the birds will have noticed that something has changed and they may hold back for a while.
Soon as they get used to the mirror not being there I'm sure your box will be checked out again soon by prospective tenants
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
My wing-mirrors fold-in, but the PW's are still attacking them.
I've tied a plastic carrier bag to each mirror and that's stopped it
Bless
There's a rookery at the end of my road and last year they took offence to the little aerial stub on the roof of my car! it looks like it been chewed. Plastic bags worked for that too.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I'm thinking of getting these too https://shopping.rspb.org.uk/bird-safety-hygiene/swift-and-swallow-window-stickers.html ... the RSPB seem to think they work even if they're not raptors.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
It is not always possible to stop some birds crashing into house /GH glass but it can be mitigated by using various images/materials to reduce the risk.
Whilst mirrors can certainly add to a garden design, the disadvantages should be made clear in any wildlife/garden design forums/TV shows to make gardeners aware.
That makes sense. I have seen one Blue Tit back in the garden this morning, but not at the nest box yet. All my fingers are crossed that I haven't scared them off entirely.