At war…

Yes, here we go again. It’s the same every year – a war of attrition.

Once more it’s started, and the adversaries are relentless. The result is life and death for one faction, satisfaction for the other.

What am I talking about? The return of the house martins (Delichon urbicum), of course – Andorinha-do-beiras to the locals, and don’t ask me to say that in a hurry – it’s a mouthful. But yes, the house martins are back.

The little bastards.

To be honest, I love to see them flitting around, their small black and white bodies zipping back and forth, catching insects (the more mosquitoes the better, as far as I’m concerned).

I suppose that I have to admit that I also admire their ability to build mud-pellet, hanging nests under any available overhang.

An additional admirable quality is their ability to arrive from Africa every year and build their nests in exactly the same place as the previous year.

But (and this is a big but) I don’t appreciate the pair that every year decide to try and build a nest under the balcony at the front of my house. I’ve seen the mess that house martins leave elsewhere. The pavements here in Fuzeta are covered in bird poo – or maybe I should use the word guano. Whatever, it’s everywhere and I really don’t want to have to spend my time scraping it off the walls of my house, the calçadas and, in particular, my doorstep.

So yes, once more it’s war.

I’m aware that destroying nests is illegal, particularly if the nests are complete and have eggs or hatchlings, as they do in spring. To remove mature nests requires official authority, and the fines for removing nests even out of season (because of the house martin’s ability to navigate its way back to exactly the same spot) can be huge. However, removing the first few pellets as a house martin starts to build its nest isn’t so clear. Is this punishable? Who knows?

But this year, it’s irrelevant. This year I was prepared. This year I decided to use bird scarers – shiny and reflective bits of tape. I was assured that hanging these under the balcony would scare the birds away, so that’s what I tried. Unsuccessfully, if truth be told.

The other day, I noticed a couple of birds nestling on top of the cables that run beneath my balcony. They hadn’t started building yet, but I knew that they were thinking about it.

As I said, the little bastards.

I stood there looking, and they flew away. I continued to look, wondering if there was any way to beat our feathered friends. Just then, a voice behind me could be heard. It was a friendly neighbour:

‘At home, we use strips of plastic from black bin bags. Since we started using these, we’ve had no problems. Maybe they think that the black strips are big birds. Who knows? You will also need to make sure that you get the strips right up into the angle below the balcony. Leave no space for them at all.’

So, that’s what I’ve done. It’s not a particularly pretty adornment to the house, but needs must.

To date, they seem to be working. I haven’t seen any more house martins looking to build a nest under my balcony.

All I can hope is that the two who were considering it have found a nice alternative elsewhere.