What do you do about birds? I had a Dove sitting on top of my anemometer the other day. :x Judging by the bird crap below it, it does it frequently. I am not home during the day to see it most of the week.
LOL
is that your actual station Martyn?
Yes indeed - I see collared doves sitting on it every year - I guess they feel safe up there.
Timely post… A still, clear, calm day today, so I brought down my anno pole for it’s semi-yearly cleanup. Yup, you guessed it, Doves (and an occasional pigeon)…
Was able to get the droppings off all 4 of them (Production, one for a test system of win10, one for a soon-to-be test system for Linux-Mint, and a spare. 95%clean now.
As a test I’ve hot-glued a stretch of 20lb nylon fishing thread from the peak of the vane to the middle of the bullet nose. It’s not meant as a permanent fix, just a test to see if it defers the birds and their droppings. If it works, I’ll use some small screws and mount several strands to help me out.
Pigeons, yes, it doesn’t help me being less than a quarter mile from the desert and the farms, nor does me feeding the songbirds and doves in the yard (SWMBO loves to watch them), tho’ it is mostly the doves that camp out on it waiting for breakfast, or 2nd breakfast…
Ken
Mount the anemometer a little lower, add some cable ties to any perchable area, 2-3 will suffice, you can cut them but be mindful of the doves leg size and include a little extra, also use the thicker (larger) ones, then you can mount an old disused (or use it) anemometer above the original but offset it a bit, the pigeons/doves will perch on the higher of the 2 because 1, its higher, 2, its far easier to take flight in any direction, it will struggle from the one below, 3, nothing in the way (spikes you added)