Bird Scarers on oil seed rape field

Mistymaid

Thing is, it's been going since October - and it depends on how far from them you are as to how mental they will drive you!

This is why I suggested having a word with the farmer - getting it from his perspective may help. It could be that this year things are exceptionally bad, or that next year he's going to be rotating crops and won't need it. He may not even realise it's driving her bonkers and has a visual scarer he can put up?

All sorts of options available really ...

MaximumImpact

Yep, ours have been going off since about then as well. They have recently started to slow down a bit but TBH unless I make a point of listening for them, it kind of fades into background noise.

People say that the countryside is peaceful...Nope, combine Bird Scarers with harvest time, animals and the dawn chorus and I would say that the noise levels are probably higher!!!!!

Mistymaid

Most certainly the countryside is noisy - and it tends to happen 'out of hours,' or at the 'eek' weekends ... but even so it doesn't mean that farmers and incomers can't live together in harmony, each just has to take the other into consideration. And like I said, the OP may live directly next to a scarer, yours may be 1/2 mile away.
Of course the obvious solution is for the OP to get a license and start eating pigeon ... my guess is both parties would be pretty much satisfied then! (Op and farmer - not pigeon!)

cocobean12

Thanks for all your posts, yes, some of the scarers are some way away and although I can hear them, they do not bother me, as with all the other agricultural noise that goes on (I have lived here for 40 years so am quite used to it!) The scarers in question are on the field directly adjacent to my property, beleive me, there is no way it will fade into the background, they make me jump every time they are so close and loud. I would not be exaggerating if I said that it pretty much sounds like a war zone at times when they all go off within a few seconds of each other. The nearest ones also go off from sunrise to sunset, every 10 minutes and have two bangs each. As i said in my original post, I completely understand the farmers need for protecting his crops, and also what can be done about it, however, I really just need advice from anyone (another farmer?) as to when the birds would stop feeding from the plants, if its just a month or so I am prepared to put up with it and not interfere with the Farmers business, however, if it keeps up like this for all of spring and maybe summer (longer days) then I will have to intervene (thanks for all for the legalities and option advice from posters on here). By the way, if anyones out my way, pigeon pie will be on the menu everyday for the forseeable future ! LOL

Mistymaid

Well I feel absolutely useless, as it should be a simple question to answer, especially as I used to live surrounded by the stuff ...!!!
Nobody grows it here though and it could be that the birds lose interest at a certain point or it goes on till it's harvested ... I really don't know.

Like I said, in your shoes I'd just give the NFU a casual 'Hi, you couldn't tell me roughly when it's not necessary to use scarers on oil seed rape,' type call and hope they can give the answer without too much fuss ...

Herr_Schmitt

Could you not ask the farmer to move the ones that are nearest your property a bit further away so that they are not so "loud"? They will still make a noise and frighten the birds but wont be so loud to you.

cocobean12

Well, would you believe it! Seems like either someone else has complained or the farmer has realised he's fighting a losing battle with the pigeons from hell! LOL. One of the scarers has gone (or maybe just not working?) and the closest is only going off occasionally, the ones further away also appear to be going off less......... I won't count my pigeons before they are hatched tho, but its better than it has been in the last 4 months. Thank you to all posters, you have been very helpful :0)

henben

cocobean
There are two answers to your question. Looking at the question literally, the answer is that there are only a few weeks when the rape crop is vulnerable to harm that will actually reduce the yield. Depending on the season that is generally about Dec- mid Feb time. The former MAFF scientists did some research and simulated pigeon damage at other times and found that the yield was not reduced. In fact many species of plant respond to damage to the plant by quickly running to seed (which is what rape is grown for, of course) - so arguably a lot of the 'damage' is not a hindrance but may even be a help.
The second answer is that it is well known amongst bird behaviour experts that NO method of birdscaring (auditory,visual) is effective for more than a few days - some say as little as a week. Habituation quickly sets in, and if the birds are really hungry the scaring doesn't work at all.
You have my sympathy on this problem. The repetitive loud bangs drive many many people absolutely bananas. A pressure group that was active in the 80's -90's on this problem reported things like a person driven to threats of suicide; and another being sent to prison for refusing to pay a fine after smashing up a birdscarer that was going off all night. The magistrate concerned was a farming friend of the offending farmer! Some farmers are responsible in their use; far too many are not and fall back on their claimed right to do what they like in 'their' workplace, and s*d the townee incomers - regardless of the fact that many of those complaining have been country dwellers all their lives.

cocobean12

Henben - what a fantastic reply! (all other replies have been very gratefully received too) my last post on here said that the scarers appeared to have virtually stopped, I think they had just ran out of gas as they are still banging away, its not nice being woken at 6.30 in the morning (everyday including Sunday) and having to play loud music all day just to drown out the dreadful noise, its akin to Chinese Water torture, you never know when the next bang will happen.... you just know it will! As for the birds, they have disappeared..... would have assumed the scarers would have done so too but i guess the farmer isnt that bothered at monitoring the bird activity on his fields and leaves the scarers there irresponsibly. If they havent stopped by this weekend I WILL take action as its totally unacceptable and as you have informed me, ineffective over this long period. Thank you once again Henben.

woodsleighroc

Hello - have read all the previous comments with interest. We have the same problem, living opposite fields that are planted with rape seed. The farmer has, for the last 3 years, used audible bird scarers (bangers) and it drives us potty. They start at 7 am and usually stop at sunset, but at the moment are continuing until after 11pm (i think he must be trying to scare the local owls off maybe?)

Until spring last year, we had put up with it, but then when they were going off in the middle of the night we finally complained to the noise pollution person at the council. She was very helpful and also said she had received other complaints which made us feel slightly less guilty. She had found out who owned the fields and contacted the farmer. He said the timer must have been mis-set and would come over when he had time as it was a "bit of a trek". Tosh, he lives about 2 miles away (just far enough not to hear the flippin things).

I have fantasised about going into the field undercover of darkness, and 'relocating' the scarer to a place rather closer to it's owner - see how he likes it! :T

They start 'exploding' around September and finish around April/May, so we have around 3 months of the year when its nice and peaceful.

I do completely understand the farmers need to protect his crops and livelihood, I just wish he would find alternative methods that are more environmentally friendly. I especially think the alternative suggested on a BBC site (link below) especially interesting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7649600.stm