I have always had one robin visit my garden regularly in the summer without issues. I have recently noticed two robins (I think a parent and a young one but not certain) regularly on the washing poles and flying in and out of the hedge (beside the washing). The past 4 times I have hung a washing out to dry there have been droppings on several items.
I'm looking for a solution that won't deter the robins from the garden as I think their nest is in the hedge. There is no way to move the washing as there are fixed poles. I wasn't sure if maybe placing a feeder at another part of the garden could help? I have read about artificial birds of prey, but again I am wary of scaring them away from their home.
I have a toddler so we have a lot of washing. And we also have dampness inside that I really rely on drying washing outside on nicer days to help with.
Any help is much appreciated!
Difficult situation but does sound as if you have a pair of nesting Robins in the hedge and it is illegal to interfere in any way with the nest ... but your Robins are obviously used to you hanging out the washing if they choose to nest nearby ... certainly sounds like a good idea to relocate the feeder but you must be prepared for it not to make any difference and you may have to put up with some dirty marks for the sake of the Robins! One more thought, do they use the same flight path, are the dirty marks always in same place? If so then you could leave a gap on your washing line!
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Thank you for this! So we definitely wouldn't do anything to disturb the nest. I don't currently have a feeder our but was considering getting one and putting it at the other side of the garden, but not sure if that will help. We have a large garden as it's shared with other flats and we've always had lots of small birds, including robins, regularly in the garden in summer and never had this issue before!
There doesn't seem to be any pattern. Just random.
If you think of anything else that could help (without upsetting the birds) that would be great. Thank you!