Swift problem.........

[lucky7]

I work from my garage at home, its not possible to keep the shutter down as i am in there 5 x per week from 8 - 6 working. I need the light in there or its really dark and gloomy. However the swifts have moved in again and they have decided to nest right above my work station, meaning bird **** and mess everywhere. They have crapped all over my materials and caused loads of mess and damage. What can i do?? they dont seem bothered by me sitting in there everyday they just carry on regardless. They came last year too but because i have extended my space with work they are a real problem.
Help please!

 

[Clodagh]

Put a temporary roof over your work station? I know they are messy but it is an honour to have them nesting and they should be encouraged. (They are probably swallows?).

 

[Antw23uk]

They are ****ers, I am closing my stables up for the season so they cant nest and **** everywhere! Yes they were there first but I tried to play nice and just net off the rafters going into my tack room (and live with the crap everywhere else) but no, they are playing hardball and still getting in there and ******** everywhere so now I'm closing all doors and the stable with no top door will be netted to keep them out!

 

[Arzada]

Could you get a gazebo to cover your work area? Or hang a tarp overhead?

 

[Shay]

Under the Wildlife and Countryside act it is an offense to interfere with birds or their nests whilst those nests are in use so you have lost the battle for this year I'm afraid. They also mate for life and return to the same nest site every year so seeking to block their access can have a profound impact not only on that pair who will not breed again but also on the population as a whole which is already in decline. Not only the chicks that will not be reared but also the adults. Swifts are often killed desperately trying to get back into nests sites which have been blocked off, stunned against brickwork or wrapping, tangled in netting etc.

If you have space can you put up one of those cheap gazebo things you can get in Aldi etc so the mess doesn't land on you or your materials? Or use heavy gauge plastic stapled to batons. At the end of the breeding season just remove the plastic and dispose of.

 

[tickety_boo]

Drill 4 holes in the outer edge of a plastic dustbin lid and hang it upside down with bailer twine just below the nest. Then bin the whole thing once they have gone.

 

[Amirah]

They are ****ers, I am closing my stables up for the season so they cant nest and **** everywhere! Yes they were there first but I tried to play nice and just net off the rafters going into my tack room (and live with the crap everywhere else) but no, they are playing hardball and still getting in there and ******** everywhere so now I'm closing all doors and the stable with no top door will be netted to keep them out!

Wrong on so many levels. Just cover your stuff and be honoured they are there. Every year there are less of them and they are beautiful (and eat the horse flies).

 

[Apercrumbie]

Our pair of house martens never came this year and we are very sad. There have been good suggestions for ways to cover your work station for while they are here. Do cherish them - they are beautiful birds and you may well miss them when they are gone.

 

[Amirah]

They come all the way from Africa. How you can let them make that journey to find a netted off door is beyond me!

 

[9tails]

Clear plastic sheet if you need the light? Their poo will hit the sheet and you can change it when it's no longer see through.

 

[meleeka]

They come all the way from Africa. How you can let them make that journey to find a netted off door is beyond me!

Agree. I'm always very honoured that they choose to come back to my stables every year.

 

[jrp204]

Are you sure they're not swallows? Swifts tend to nest under the eaves of houses. I would put a tarp under across the joists under the nest.

 

[lucky7]

Drill 4 holes in the outer edge of a plastic dustbin lid and hang it upside down with bailer twine just below the nest. Then bin the whole thing once they have gone.

Great idea!! Thank yu i shall try this

 

[lucky7]

Are you sure they're not swallows? Swifts tend to nest under the eaves of houses. I would put a tarp under across the joists under the nest.

Sorry yes it appears they are swallows not swifts.

 

[Clodagh]

They are ****ers, I am closing my stables up for the season so they cant nest and **** everywhere! Yes they were there first but I tried to play nice and just net off the rafters going into my tack room (and live with the crap everywhere else) but no, they are playing hardball and still getting in there and ******** everywhere so now I'm closing all doors and the stable with no top door will be netted to keep them out!

How could you!? I couldn't live with myself. Killing small birds who are already struggling because they poo!

 

[Clodagh]

Drill 4 holes in the outer edge of a plastic dustbin lid and hang it upside down with bailer twine just below the nest. Then bin the whole thing once they have gone.

That is a brilliant idea.

 

[FfionWinnie]

Empty sheep crystalyx tubs, if you know any one who uses them,are a good size. We screwed them to the wall below the nests then chucked them after. I then had a door put on to prevent them getting in the next year. It's not a safe nesting site as the cats can get onto the beams and kill the chicks. They still nest here just not in my main shed.

 

[Antw23uk]

How could you!? I couldn't live with myself. Killing small birds who are already struggling because they poo!

How could I what? Kill them .. dont be a tool, I'm not killing anything! I'm simply persuading them to nest in a more suitable place next door. Rather that than the cats getting them!

 

[Evie91]

We had Swallows in the stables for the first time last year; they checked it out the year before but didn't stay. I was so excited when the nested last year, desperately hoping they will come back, but not seen them yet! Beautiful,amazing birds; what's a bit of poop when it comes to helping them survive and thrive.

 

[Hallo2012]

we actually put netting up across the entire garage so that 1. they could make more secure nests by going against the net as well as the eaves and 2. we could sweep the poo off the netting at the end of the season but the little monkeys rejected our help and make nests on all the 4 open corners so we now have a 3 bay garage full of shavings bales and bird poo and 3 cars out in the open on the yard away from the poo lol!

live and let live, they eat all the insects and when they poo on the horses its lucky isnt it!

thankfully tack room is walled of with no way in for them,but if it wasnt i WOULD net over the gap whilst making sure they had other options.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

They are ****ers, I am closing my stables up for the season so they cant nest and **** everywhere! Yes they were there first but I tried to play nice and just net off the rafters going into my tack room (and live with the crap everywhere else) but no, they are playing hardball and still getting in there and ******** everywhere so now I'm closing all doors and the stable with no top door will be netted to keep them out!

What an appalling attitude.
Why not cover whatever it is that is so precious in your tackroom and let the swallows get on with their lives. Songbirds are in decline, without those who should know better making deliberate attempts to stop them breeding. This attitude puts me in mind of those who want horse riders to clean up dung from public roads!
We have swallows in our stables and are thrilled that they are back again this year, even though *we* were here first.

 

[jumbyjack]

We love our swallows, yes they poop on the ponies, in the water tubs and whizz past with a feathers breadth clearance. The babies are delightful and watch us mucking out then suddenly fly apparently without practice. They are amazing birds, we wouldn't dream of preventing them from accessing their nests. Some really good ideas given re poop catching though