by Pigeon Patrol | Jun 2, 2015 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeons in the News
A BRISTOL photographer has taken a series of striking pictures showing peregrine falcons hunting pigeons in the heart of the city.
Sam Hobson, 34, has captured a collection of pictures showing the birds snatching the pigeons above Bristol’s skyline, according to the Daily Mail.
Mr Hobson said it was ‘amazing’ to capture the birds hunting above his city.
In Britain, they are usually spotted in the skies above mountain ranges and other remote spaces.
Mr Hobson said: ‘There is something amazing about seeing one of the world’s fastest animals perched on a building you see every day,’ he said. ‘There are plenty of tall buildings in cities for the birds to perch on.’
Mr Hobson, who has been tracking and photographing urban falcons in Bristol for the past two years, said the birds had been attracted to the cities because of their large number of pigeons and other migratory birds.
‘I have seen falcons doing things they don’t do in the countryside,’ he said. ‘For example, I witnessed them hunting at night.
‘The falcons were using the city lights to spot other birds and then swooping on them.
‘We are used to seeing nocturnal hunting behavior in owls, but not peregrines.
‘They were hunting different birds as well, not just pigeons. They preyed on a lot of migratory birds.’
He added that March was a good month for photographing the birds – saying: ‘We are coming up to the time when falcons lay their first eggs of the year.
‘Males are particularly territorial during this time, and attack other birds like seagulls which come anywhere near their nests.
‘A couple of years ago two falcons in Bristol only managed to lay one egg, and a seagull knocked it into the floating harbour. Some workmen managed to fish it out with an umbrella, and it was saved.’
Mr Hobson told the Mail, he had captured the falcons from vantage points on high buildings – while carefully observing their nesting habits to determine where they will appear.
‘I stood on top of a car park all day, waiting for something to happen,’ he said.
‘From the pictures you would think these are really active birds, but often I sit there watching them perched on a ledge, digesting their food all day.’
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Pigeon Patrol | Jun 2, 2015 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Netting
A bird-loving father from Birmingham has been threatened with a £5,000 fine and court action for feeding pigeons.
Father-of-two Adnan Mir, aged 37, began feeding the birds in Church Road and Croft Road, Yardley, two years ago after an elderly neighbour who had fed them for 35 years died.
Father-of-two Adnan Mir, aged 37, is facing a £5,000 fine for feeding pigeons Credit: BPM Media (Midlands)
He said he felt sorry for the pigeons, who kept showing up expecting her to feed them – but the council took a rather dim view of his actions.
He was fined £50 for scattering seeds in November 2012, and was given a council caution last year, with the council claiming the seed attracts vermin.
And now the council is threatening further action, accusing him of “ignoring” the warnings.
Mr Mir says he now only feeds pigeons in the park, and says he is not committing a crime.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 31, 2015 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeons in the News
Three oil sands companies say scores of birds were killed after landing at their waste facilities in east-central Alberta, Canada, even though their avian deterrents were operational at the time.
All three companies – Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL), Syncrude and Suncor – said the birds began landing the morning of Nov. 4 and that their wildlife deterrents were working properly at the time. However, a dense fog was reported at the time, which may have disoriented the birds, contributing to their deaths.
All told, 122 waterfowl died on the companies’ tailing ponds, where waste from oil extraction is dumped, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) reported on Nov. 5. CNRL reported finding 60 dead birds at its Horizon site, and Syncrude said it had to euthanize 30 birds that landed on a similar facility at its Mildred Lake site.
Suncor said that about 120 birds closed in on one of its waste ponds at about the same time, but its deterrents frightened most of them away. Six, though, managed to land.
Investigators sent in by the AER are trying to determine whether the companies’ deterrents were, in fact, working that day. The deterrents include ordinary scarecrows as well as more high-tech devices as radar units and acoustic devices such as propane cannons, which shoot nothing more dangerous than noise, to scare wildlife from toxic areas.
The oil companies expressed concern about the birds’ deaths. CNRL spokeswoman Julie Woo said in an e-mail to Canadian Broadcasting Corp. News, “We are saddened that approximately 60 waterfowl were not deterred and we are currently in the process of confirming the final affected number.”
Will Gibson of Syncrude offered a similar sentiment. He said his company noted increased bird activity in the region that morning. “As a result of these observations,” he told Global News, “our bird deterrent system went into heightened alert.”
“We don’t want our operations to harm wildlife,” Gibson said, “so we’re going to be reviewing our systems to see if there’s additional areas to improve on what we’ve already implemented.”
Syncrude, a major oil sands operator in the region, was hit with a $3 million fine for the deaths of more than 1,600 ducks that had landed on its tailings pond in 2008.
Mike Hudema of Greenpeace Canada says wildlife deterrent systems aren’t enough, and that the oil sands operations need to get rid of tailings ponds, period. “The systems that they put in place to try to keep birds off are not working,” he said. “The only way to keep birds and animals safe in, really, what is a toxic brew of chemicals is to get these tailings ponds off the Alberta landscape.”
AER spokesman Ryan Bartlett said his agency is investigating the incident, but the results may not be known for months. Meanwhile, neither Alberta’s Environment or Energy ministry would comment, leaving the matter to AER. Provincial Premier Jim Prentice said he’d have nothing to say until the AER issues a report on its investigation.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 19, 2015 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
Residents of Fairbanks, Alaska, are sounding the alarm bells over a surge in guano that’s threatening to consume their city. According to reports, the local pigeon population has exploded in recent years, leaving people reeling from their inescapable excrement.
“It’s Poopsville,” says architect David Whitmore, whose downtown building alone is home to 20 different nests belonging to the pesky, prolific birds.
Producing up to 25 pounds of poop apiece each year, the pigeons are damaging dozens of properties and relentlessly terrorizing townspeople. Roofers recently discovered a 6-inch layer of pigeon poop spackled atop the historic Courthouse Square building. Meanwhile, property owners scramble just to keep the pigeon poop in check, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports.
Twice a year, employees at a downtown parking garage must don Tyvek suits and respirators to scrape 75 gallons of guano from the structure’s concrete floors. They then must dispose of the droppings in the hazardous materials section of the area landfill.
“Pigeon crap weighs a ton,” says Marcus Dodge, executive director of the Fairbanks Parking Authority. “It’s not a lot of fun to clean up.”
Probably not. But folks in Fairbanks should expect to get down and dirty with bird waste far into the future, according to wildlife authorities. “Pigeons are pretty darn flexible,” says Cathie Harms, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “They will eat a variety of food. They are prolific breeders.”
Unfortunately for some, that reality has yet to sink in.
“They’re a hazard to the equipment. They’re a hazard to people,” says Robert Franklin, a maintenance foreman in town. “They get into stuff they are not supposed to.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 19, 2015 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News
Pigeons have been steady residents of Copenhagen City Hall’s tower for over 100 years, but that has now come to a sad end.
Pigeons have made their home in Copenhagen City Hall’s tower since 1905, but on Tuesday the current flock of around 120 pigeons living in the seat of local government were euthanized after contracting psittacosis, an infection spread through bird droppings.
“There have been pigeons since the City Hall was completed and we have always been proud of that. This is absolutely not something we are happy about,” Kåre Jørgensen, a City Hall spokesman, told DR.
Psittacosis, also known as parrot fever, can also spread to humans and two workers who helped take care of the birds came down with flu-like symptoms but have since been cleared to return to work.
Jørgensen said that although the infection could have been treated, it would have been too hard on the pigeons.
“If we were to [treat them, ed.] it would require that the pigeons be shut up in our tower for four months. The veterinarian determined that that would be a gross violation of the animal’s welfare, so we couldn’t subject them to that,” he told DR.
Jørgensen said officials haven’t yet decided whether they will attempt to repopulate the City Hall tower with a new flock of pigeons. To do so, the dead birds would first have to be removed and the entire tower would have to be disinfected.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 19, 2015 | Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News
Until recently, the medieval tower that rises above the Dordogne River in this small village in southwestern France was a romantic ruin, inhabited only by pigeons.
The adjoining house “was just about habitable,” said Pamela Marshall, 63, one of the current owners. “But the tower had been empty for decades. It probably hadn’t been occupied since the 19th century.”
Still, Ms. Marshall and her husband, Richard, 66, a British couple from Lincolnshire who had a long association with the area, weren’t put off. Back in the 1970s, they had rescued another ruin, a dilapidated barn in Dordogne that they had been using as a vacation home ever since.
“It was wonderful for holidays in the summer,” Ms. Marshall said. “But we felt that it was time to look for a place in France that we could use in the winter as well.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
A BRISTOL photographer has taken a series of striking pictures showing peregrine falcons hunting pigeons in the heart of the city.
