Pigeon's treat

For too long now, the pigeons of Clifton have been gorging on food meant for the less well off. 

Too many treats!

My first ever post on this blog, two years ago, lamented the presence of these guzzle guts, evolving into all-out bird war in the Battle of Bristol posts. 

Basically, I'd lacked the foresight to purchase a fancy bird table, plumping for the basic model to save a bob or two. There was nothing to stop the big birds taking over. Two years and 20 pips up the heart rate scale later and 'pigeon rage' was starting to become a concern.

Then, walking through the nearby communal garden I chanced upon a wonderfully amateur piece of handiwork. A hand constructed shelter to make sure only the little ones got fed. Four bent sticks and a piece of card, an urgent solution to, lets face it an urgent problem. I just don't think anyone is dealing with the ticking timebomb that is avian obesity among the more developed species. Rant over, back to the garden...


Buzzing from my coldframe endeavours and with a pile of sticks at home, I realised I too could go all A-team on the those pigeons' backsides. So this morning I got to work with the string and sticks, secateurs and mini saw to get the pieces I needed to construct a shelter. Something that could withstand those heavy beating wings, prevent the big beaks but still let in the mini ones.

Ta-da!

Yes, it's a bit wonky, and perhaps the materials aren't as matching as they could be. But they locally sourced and recycled!

There is very little in my gardening career to date that has filled me with such pride and satisfaction as this construction project.

 For anyone interested in the construction process, I used left over bits of bay, russian vine and some random shrub, and basically experimented with a main structure until I came up with a sturdy frame sunk into four very handy drainage holes in the bird-table.

I considered horizontal sticks on the sides, but it was easier to go vertical, so I just tied them tightly to the main 'beam' (are you paying attention McLoud?)

The strangest thing, is that I actually found myself thinking about aesthetics, practicalities and effectivenesss. Would the pigeons find a way around this, would they land on it leading to a collapse. And, as has just been pointed out to me, having filled the drainage holes, will this simply turn into a fancy bird bath?

No matter, I'd love to know if anyone else has attempted the same and to see some pics. Let me know