Noisy neighbours (2)

In June last year I reported on the pigeons who had set up home via a gap into our roof space. They continued breeding all summer and drove us potty with their scuffling about. You'd hear cheep cheep noises for 3-4 weeks then just when you thought it was OK to get the gap closed there would be a coo-cooing all over again and off they'd go again.

The only way to block the gap, short of smashing through the plasterboard on the top landing (which I came close to doing) was from the outside.

Eventually, in October, we saw a fledgling blundering about on next-door's roof, clearly in the process of leaving the nest, and decided that was it; we were getting the builder in; if they really think they can raise more chicks this late in they year they can think again.

On December 4th the deed was done: the builder came and fixed a bespoke wood barrier into the gap. Soon there were 2 very unhappy pigeons on the roof. For the first 4 weeks they repeatedly tried to get back in: pecking at the barrier, scrabbling at the slates, making almost as much noise as they did before the eviction.

Then they took to sitting on the roof cooing, so from the top bedroom it sounded like they were back inside.

We're 3 months on and still they're hanging about, albeit with something of an air of defeat. We've had the attempted vandalism, the dirty protest, the sit-ins and the psychological warfare. But we've won!