by Ryan Ponto | Apr 24, 2017 | Bird Netting
PEDESTRIANS risk being covered in pigeon poo every time they walk under the High Street railway bridge in Leamington’s Old Town.
Netting used to be fitted under the bridge in a bid to stop the birds nesting, but it was taken down in 2015 following complaints about them becoming trapped and dying.
But the Green Party and local shopkeepers are now calling on Network Rail – who they say are responsible for the issue – to reinstate the netting and keep it maintained.
Shopkeeper David Jordan, who owns Jordans which sits directly under the bridge, said: “No one wants to take responsibility for the problem.
“It was very short-sighted to remove the old netting without having thought about what would happen when the pigeons returned to the bridge. On a wet day it can be quite hazardous to walk on the affected pavement – let alone what it looks like.“
And Green Party campaigner Martin Luckhurst says they will continue to appeal to Network Rail until the issue is resolved.
He said: “We’re not giving up until this is fixed. It’s time for Network Rail to accept responsibility and take action.”
Pigeons have long been a problem in Old Town.
An attempt to resolve the issue came in 2007 AND saw £10,000 ‘luxury coop’ installed on Court Street car park in a bid to entice them away from the area’s bridges.
It was removed a few years later following complaints from residents it was attracting rats.
Network Rail had not responded to our request for a comment at the time of going to press.
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 Ryan Ponto | Apr 23, 2017 | Bird Netting
Members of the Newport Planning Commission met Tuesday and approved the site plan for a boat launch and 16’x 16’ float pavilion on the Pigeon River.
The site is planned for just west of the railroad trestle.
Codes Officer Mark Robinson said the owners of a new distillery on West Main Street hope to erect a neon sign on the roof of the operation, in an effort to attract tourists. He said such a move would require Planning Commission approval.
The body also is considering a resolution for the city council’s consideration, which would require sidewalks in front of new businesses on the Highway 25/70 and Highway 321 commercial corridors.
City Planner Gary Carver asked the body for its feedback on the issue of requiring a grass strip along the roadways to the west and south of Newport, to separate the roadway from the sidewalk.
There is concern that there may be hesitancy on the part of pedestrians if they are placed close to speeding vehicles. A grass strip would provide a buffer, but also would require upkeep.
Another question being considered has to do with the issue of making the sidewalks available to bicyclists.
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 Ryan Ponto | Apr 22, 2017 | Bird Netting
It all began at the ripe age of 6.
Even then, Charles Morgan knew his interest in pigeons was more than just a flight of fancy.
“I lived in Chelsea and neighbors had pigeons in the eaves of their house,” he said. “My best friend and I caught a few of these and kept them for pets.”
His fascination with the birds became a full-fledged passion when his father, an engineer, transferred the family to Texas for work. Soon after the move, Morgan caught a lucky break when he discovered his neighbor down the street had pigeons and doves. At only 10 years old, he saved enough money to build his own pigeon loft. After that, there was no looking back.
Except for a 10-year stint in the Army, Morgan, now 74, has owned pigeons since his start in Texas. It was not until the ’60s that he began to race them, however.
“They’re just like athletes,” he said.
He has a point.
During the races, pigeons fly anywhere from 100 to 600 miles before returning to their home base. With such immense physical feats required of the birds, Morgan trains them multiple times per week.
Morgan, a retired New York State Department of Transportation worker who lives in Rhinebeck with his wife Leslie, 61, has come a long way since his 10-year-old loft-building days. His handyman skills helped him to build not one, but seven lofts for his winged friends.
“They know which loft to go in,” he said. “They fly home, they land on the loft, and they walk very quickly right in the door.”
“I say ‘incoming’ when I see one coming in,” Leslie Morgan said. Over the course of their 24-year relationship, she has become nearly as invested in the birds as he is.
“He spends more time with the birds than with me,” she said, semi-jokingly.
With the number of factors involved in raising pigeons, the fact that Morgan spends three hours per day at the lofts is no surprise. In addition to making sure that no predators approach the housing, he also mixes his own feed for the birds, checks to see if any of them are sick and provides medication when needed.
Morgan’s pigeons are some of the best-kept birds around, which is why he races them regularly with the Northern Catskill Pigeon Club. Although he also used to show pigeons professionally, he said he prefers the athleticism that underlines the races. On race days, he transports his fastest flyers to a predetermined release site. The competing birds, which have had computer tracking chips in their legs since they were 5 days old, are placed in a special truck to ensure a simultaneous release.
When the birds return home, their unique chips are scanned to determine their race time down to the second.
“It’s an exact science,” Morgan said.
While racing pigeons remains one of his preferred activities, he also relies upon his feathered flock to bring joy to others. Together, he and his wife run Wings and Memories, a white bird release business. Morgan is quick to point out that the birds used for releases are pigeons, not doves, since doves do not have the same uncanny sense of direction.
“We let the birds go at weddings and funerals,” he said. “We do a lot of support for autism walks, suicide prevention and local causes.”
They work with charities such as March of Dimes and Relay for Cancer in addition to their standard slew of weddings, funerals and even gender reveal parties.
Through the business, Morgan has also worked with a number of brands on photo shoots and commercials. Members of his flock have been featured on everything from a Maybelline Cosmetics and a Prudential commercial, respectively, to a photo shoot with Bride Magazine and the December 2016 cover of Real Simple Magazine.
Morgan recalls kidding around with the photographers at one of the shoots. He jokingly told his birds to stay put, a command which others thought was in earnest.
“I would herd the birds back in a crate” whenever the crew needed to make an adjustment to the scene, he said. “Once I walked away and said ‘stay’ (to the birds) and one of the photographers went ‘wow.’”
Although his talents with the feathered fleet may not be that extensive, his devotion to them is unparalleled. Leslie Morgan recalled a touching moment when Morgan braved the elements to rescue one of his younger birds from an impending storm.
“We had a baby that got discombobulated and landed on the shed near the loft,” she said. Because the birds will not fly at night in the dark, the little one remained glued to the roof even as the clouds approached.
Seeing this, Morgan “gets out a ladder in the dark with a storm coming. As it’s starting to rain, he’s climbing up there to pick up the little bird and make sure it’s OK. They’re all part of the family, and he makes sure everyone’s OK,” she said.
Morgan wholeheartedly agreed. He and his wife may have a fully grown human brood, with two sons, a daughter, and a number of sisters and brothers in the area, but their pigeons are part of the family as well.
“They’re just something I grew up with,” he said. “The pigeons amaze me. You can take them hundreds of miles away and they will still return home.”
Home is where the heart is, after all.
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 Ryan Ponto | Apr 21, 2017 | Bird Netting
We join Ian Harford as he sets out for a day on the pigeons.
It’s a beautiful although slightly overcast morning as we set ourselves up for a day on the pigeons.
Start of pigeon season, and my first day shooting since the end of last game shooting season; so we have our fingers crossed for a good day.
First off, we need to get set up in a hide. It’s important to set out early, so you get your hide placed and built before the pigeons come out from roost.
Using nets and poles will give you a good base of a blind to work from and helps if you dress it with any fallen and broken branches and brashing to offer more natural surroundings when the pigeons hopefully fall into your decoy pattern.
Placing your blind under a tree that has some bare branches early in the season will make it a good sitting tree. Offering clear spaces for a clear shot free from hanging foliage.
Most of the decoys in our pattern are around 15-25 yards out in front of us so shooting should be reasonably straightforward.
There’s a pretty brisk wind this morning, so as the birds are coming over us they will have the wind in their wings so there will be some speed there, which we need to account for!
Realtree Max-5 is a great all round Pigeon Shooting pattern whether it’s for early pigeons, or well into the spring and summer. It has a lot to offer with the dark background for early season and the green elements work well for the early spring. The Max-5 offers incredible detail; each pattern has been strategically placed to create super-realistic tone, contrast and shadow.
When you appear from behind your blind it is important to be camouflagued to blend in with the surroundings so that your pigeons continue to come into your pattern. Having a great white silhouette appearing out of your blind every so often when you go to shoot will deter the pigeons to another spot, and you don’t want your neighbour to get your shooting!
Pigeon Shooting provides a fantastic days sport and normally is a great help to the farmer in maintaining the crops. It’s remained overcast for the duration of our day but didn’t alter our opportunity. The wind was pretty strong all day.
Interesting thing about today, was the way the pattern attracted the birds. Some of them came right in, and others came into the centre and hovered before landing, they didn’t want to come into the pattern. Something about it just seemed to spook them. That enabled us to take quite a few long shots but as you may know, those are not always quite as successful as bringing the birds into the pattern and shooting them at 15-20 yards.
However, some of those shots around the pattern were spectacular. I managed to bag 23, although there are a lot more empty cartridges on the floor! That’s half the fun of this sport.
It feels great when you make a good shot and the bird comes down, but equally it has to be sporting. The 23 pigeons I shot today won’t really see a big dent in the population around our shooting area, there really are a lot of birds and my guide knows exactly where to find them.
If it is not your area that you are shooting and you have been invited on a day it really is important to find out the key facts of the ground. What time do they start to move? Which direction do they generally come from? Do they favour a particular flight path? And what kind of pattern did they use on this ground before to bring the birds in?
Equally if it is your own ground, it is important to do a reconnaissance beforehand. Watch the ground on similar days to that you’ll be shooting on, make some notes for certain times of the day and plan your day in advance.
Today has been a truly wonderful day in the field. Great countryside, fantastic views and great shooting sport.
Now the hard bit, the tidying up! Packing away decoys, nets and blinds, picking up the cartridges, putting back the branches and brashings and making sure any rubbish is taken home.
And finally, picking up the carcasses and taking them home for tea!
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 Ryan Ponto | Apr 20, 2017 | Bird Netting
A Dunedin building ”not fit for pigeons to live in” has gone from abandoned wreck to winner of the top award at the Dunedin Heritage Awards.
The Dunedin Heritage Re-use Award was won by Ted Daniels for the restoration and preservation of the historic Standard Building in Princes St.
Mr Daniels bought the building eight years ago and has spent several years bringing it back to life through a mixture of preservation of historic elements, recreation of lost details and the careful insertion of new and exciting features such as a main staircase.
”It was in pretty bad condition when I bought it. It was waterlogged, it had rotten floors, the facade was orange, all the ornaments were taken off and pigeons were living inside.
”It wasn’t even fit for pigeons to live in. Most people would have looked at it and thought to demolish it.”
But Mr Daniels saw potential in the building.
”There is a lot of history in the building and that is very important to me. It’s a pretty unique building. It has a bluestone wall in there from 1860 which no-one knew existed.”
Mr Daniels was delighted with the award, and said all the positive feedback he had received about the restoration had made all the money and time poured into it worthwhile.
”It’s been very rewarding.”
The awards, held at Toitu Otago Settlers Museum last night, recognised excellence and innovation in the reuse of heritage buildings and a range of people involved in heritage re-use, including building owners, conservation professionals, project managers and engineers.
Dunedin City Council heritage policy planner Dan Windwood said the winners demonstrated the many uses that could be found for Dunedin’s heritage buildings, making sure the city’s unique history was not lost.
”The awards are an exciting time each year to acknowledge efforts being made across the city to restore and revitalise heritage buildings and show the public some of the excellent work that’s being done.”
Other winners were: Dunedin Heritage Re-use Award highly commended: Gallaway Cook Allan, 123 Vogel St (owner Chris Barnes); Earthquake Strengthening Award: 123 Vogel St; Heritage Interiors Award: 123 Vogel St; Earthquake Strengthening Award, highly commended: 90 Bond St (owner Hayden Cawte); David Cox Memorial Award: New New New, 218 Crawford St.
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)
