Row erupts amongst Poole residents over 'decoy' bird ornaments

Resident Jeff Williams, of Jubilee Road, described the situation as “very upsetting” after his neighbour brought in five bird of prey replicas which, he said, has caused all the birds to go elsewhere. 

His neighbour argues there are many reasons why birds wouldn’t be in the area in September, including the hot summer and a recent bout of avian flu. 

"I've bought the best bird seed for the birds but they aren't here" (Image: NQ)

Mr Williams, 76, said: "My neighbour brought in no less than five bird of prey replicas. There is an awful lot of upset from residents about this. All the garden birds have been driven away.  

“We already didn’t have many birds in our area before this, but what did come here have been driven away by the decoys. 

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“It’s like putting a fierce bulldog in your garden to scare away the cats. I’ve spent a fortune on the best quality bird feed and designed my garden so the birds can enjoy it.” 

The ornament birds in Mrs Morse's garden (Image: NQ)

Neighbour Jane Morse, who lives next door with her husband Keith, argued the birds are not decoys as Jeff said, and that she is free to have whatever she wants in her own garden. 

Mrs Morse, who bought the owl ornaments two years ago and the rest in January this year, said it is “infantile” to suggest the birds have been drawn away from Mr William’s garden because of her ornaments. 

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She said: “We’ve had a dry summer, unprecedented temperatures, avian flu in the area which we’ve all received letters about it, there are cats in the area - we have three ourselves - including a huge black fluffy cat.” 

The ornament birds in Mrs Morse's garden (Image: NQ)

She added: “Our cats are hunters and I don’t like coming down in the morning to find a dead bird or rodent in the kitchen with feathers everywhere.

“Keith bought the ornaments as ornaments; there was no thought that it would be a deterrent. There is no intention of scaring any birds from any other property.  

“We don’t want the bird population to be decimated because of our three cats.”

A spokeswoman for the RSPB said bird of prey ornaments are "often used as a legal deterrents" but advises it doesn't often work as "some birds can become used to them, others may remain wary of such items."

She added: "If someone enquired wanting to encourage birds into their garden, we would not recommend for these figures to be in place due to the risk of deterring any species."