I’m at my wits end with the massive influx of wood pigeons coming to my garden now. They bully all the other birds and eat EVERYTHING. EVERY. THING. And now we are getting collared doves which are just prettier versions of the bird I can’t stand!
I don’t want these greedy things in my garden, but they‘re going away and bringing all their friends, and now I feel like I’m turning up to some illegal pigeon rave whenever I step into the garden as they all scatter like I’ve come to bust them, but then they return once I’ve gone. They’re costing me a fortune in bird food so the little birds can even get a look-in.
I’ve tried the “pigeons hate chilli powder so put it on your bird food” trick. Doesn’t work.
I know you get those ground feeder cages to only let the little birds in, but the rats will come too. I need something that stops them using my bird feeding station, primarily.
If only that certain law wasn't brought in recently that’s allowed them to have an unchecked population boom. They’re out of control now. Far too many of them.
That general licence still did not give you carte blanche to just set out to shoot Wood Pigeons it was meant for land owners to help protect their crops but it was also misused by keepers to shoot what they considered to be vermin. In the "good old days" farmers with a problem with pigeons would organise all the villagers with a shotgun to join in a pigeon shoot to get rid of them. I suppose in this case at least the birds went into the food chain. The NFU web has some interesting info on controlling unwelcome birds
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can