Thursday 19 December 2013

Was it a Bird? Was it a Kite?

On our first walk of the day on Wednesday, nearing the spot where the tree was blown down a short while ago, something moving behind a house caught my attention:

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Very first thought was it looked like a large bird, about the size of a heron. Observing for a bit longer I could see what appeared to be a string attached to whatever it was. Second thought was someone was up early kite flying as the wind was blustery and the object was above the edge of the field behind the house:

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It was bitterly cold so I decided to continue on our way home. At lunch time we took a different route but the last walk of the day took us back to the same spot. The object was still bobbing and weaving in the gusts which were stronger and colder that they had been in the morning. This time I decided we would investigate so detoured to amble down the track next to the field. Once the thing came in to sight the penny dropped. A bird scarer designed to resemble a raptor, sometimes hovering, sometimes diving. It consisted of a pole 4 to 5m high with the flying object connected with a springy length of wire.

Silent video:



It really was very effective and there weren't any pigeons or gulls anywhere near that end of the field.

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Much better than the very noisy gas cannons which can make the area sound like WW3 has broken out. They could still be heard from time to time but appeared to be further away from the housing than they have been in recent years.

6 comments:

  1. Well, it had me fooled at first.
    Looks very effective, and like you say, much better than those noisy things firing away.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Keith. I was surprised to see it flying in a very gentle breeze today so it looks to be an efficient design.

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  2. It's very realistic - much better than the normal scaring devices.

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh, wow! very funky but useful, i'd imagine!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TWG. It seems to be doing the job even in a gentle breeze.

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Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

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