The birds and the bees

Isn’t nature resilient?  We may have had the harshest March for 30 years, but that hasn’t deterred Mother Nature.  The birds and the bees are now in full flow, making out like, well, birds and bees.

When I’m out cleaning windows, there’s nothing quite like fabulous bird song to lift my spirits. At this time of year, the birds are cranking it up as they establish their territories and get nesting.  As they belt out their Greatest Hits it’s impossible not to smile.

Which is why I get sad when my clients report that their windows are so clean after I’ve visited that the birds fly into them.  By way of apology, I’d like to invite my customers to follow my tips to keep the birds away from my shinywindows.

Placing a cat statue on the window sill inside – ideally glaring out of the window – can help. 

But even a statue won’t help if the birds are seeing the sky and the trees reflected in the window.  So the most effective strategy is to stick silhouettes of birds on the outside of the glass, so your garden birds think the territory is taken and steer clear.  Birds of prey silhouettes will also make your feathered friends think twice about flying straight on.

Another great deterrent is a cobweb sticker – no bird wants to get tangled up with a spider’s sticky web.  As with the bird stickers, position it in the middle of the pane or in a strike hotspot, if there is one place the birds keep hitting.

So please keep enjoying my lovely clean windows, but make sure they are bird friendly.