When Circumstance Calls...

Well, efx2 is down for who knows how long - and so I'll post here until a resolution is found. It's been a while since I've used blogspot - but I'm glad I still have this set up! In fact, if you have a gander at my profile page and scroll to the bottom, you'll see I have a few more blogs here...

Anywhoo, I'll pick up from my last post on efx that detailed my proposed response to the bird haters. Well, we sent them a letter, but it wasn't that one! It was a more civilised (though less fun) version:

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Dear neighbours,

We are sorry to hear that you are having problems with the birds we attract to our garden.

I took the liberty of contacting both the Environmental Health Department of the Highland Council, and Albyn Housing, on your behalf to advise them of your complaint and to enquire as to whether we were in breach of any rules or regulations regarding the feeding of wild birds in a residential area.

The Environmental Health Dept. responded that if a formal complaint is made, they will visit the area in question to determine if there is an issue with the provided food (mostly loaves of bread and other large items of food) attracting vermin (namely large numbers of seagulls and / or pigeons) and would advise the residents to instead use a bird house and small feeders. I explained the set-up we have here (namely one bird house and a number of bird feeders designed to only accommodate small birds), and mentioned that the majority of birds we get in the garden are starlings, house sparrows and finches; Environmental Health don't believe there should be any problem with this.

Albyn Housing stated much the same. I explained the set-up we have and the birds that visit, told them of the nature of your complaint and asked if they have any policies about feeding wild birds. They stated that a formal complaint has yet to be made - but if one were made, they would expect the residents to reach an agreement between themselves, and would offer the same advice as the Environmental Health department; they also mentioned that they can't foresee there being any issue as so many people now have bird feeders in their gardens, and with the general bird population in the area, it would be difficult to distinguish if the droppings are being caused specifically by the birds visiting our garden. However, the above being said - we will soon be the sole owners of this property and such matters will be out of the hands of Albyn Housing.

We also checked with our downstairs neighbour, thinking that as she is closer to the bird house and feeders than yourself, she would have the same problems (if not more so) - but she hasn't noticed any bird droppings on her washing, windows or garden and barely even notices the birds.

Again, I am sorry that you feel offended enough to want us to remove the bird house. By all means, please make a formal complaint to both the Environmental Health Department and Albyn Housing - I have advised both that I will suggest to you that you do just this if you feel so strongly about the issue.

Meanwhile, as a temporary gesture of good will until we are the sole owners of the property, we will take down a few of the small bird feeders.

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We haven't had any response yet. I'm eagerly awaiting one!