Every summer several pairs of Ospreys nest in the trees surrounding our cove, and rear their young, which is wonderful.
What is not so wonderful is that expensive sailing instrument wands seem to be their preferred place to perch while looking for fish to swoop down on, as can be seen in above photo of a neighbouring boat.
I was having a similar problem with purple Martins in my marina. Dozens of them would perch on several boats mast tops and shrouds. Their “poop” is very unsightly. I had a pool noodle that came with the boat and I hoisted up the main halyard (don’t forget the retrieval line). It worked like a treat! Simple and cheep!
-Bill
It sort of waves around in the breeze and seems to discourage them. I tried it on a lark and being frustrated cleaning poop off the deck 🙂 Maybe there were other easier targets as well.
Ben Garvey
October 23, 2025 2:44 pm
Thanks for this John – I will be copying this install. I currently have no wind indicator for exactly this reason- I’m on my 5th one now – the bloody ospreys are relentless!
Wilson Fitt
October 23, 2025 3:29 pm
Hi John. Yes, an old VHF antenna wire sticking out at about 45 degrees over the radar scanner has kept seagulls it off for several years. But this year, for the first time, a gull perched on our bow pulpit rail and covered the roller furling drum in guano!
Cormorants are the worst of all. We went through a period where they were perching on the spreaders and covering the decks with the most disgusting mess of half-digested fish remains. Running the halyards from the masthead to the rail so they bisected the spreaders seemed to deter the cormorants and, although very plentiful around here, they have not fouled our nest for a couple of years.
Cormorants are strange beasts with foul habits. I was told that the aboriginal peoples called them “sea snakes”. Around here they have a penchant for invading small offshore islands in large numbers, roosting in the scraggly spruce trees, covering everything with guano that eventually kills all the vegetation leaving nothing but bare skeletons behind.
John Milton in Paradise Lost tells how Satan, when he decided to investigate what was going on in Eden in preparation for disrupting Paradise, disguised himself as a cormorant and flew in to reconnoiter the place. Milton was not much of a humorist, but I laughed out loud at that.
Wilson
Matt Marsh
October 23, 2025 4:44 pm
Around here we get birds building nests in booms. Obviously you can’t do much once they’ve nested in there without harming them or the chicks. Chunks of packing foam wedged in the open ends of any uncapped spars seems to be the best deterrent.
I was having a similar problem with purple Martins in my marina. Dozens of them would perch on several boats mast tops and shrouds. Their “poop” is very unsightly. I had a pool noodle that came with the boat and I hoisted up the main halyard (don’t forget the retrieval line). It worked like a treat! Simple and cheep!
-Bill
Hi Bill,
Amazing, I wonder why that keeps them off?
It sort of waves around in the breeze and seems to discourage them. I tried it on a lark and being frustrated cleaning poop off the deck 🙂 Maybe there were other easier targets as well.
Thanks for this John – I will be copying this install. I currently have no wind indicator for exactly this reason- I’m on my 5th one now – the bloody ospreys are relentless!
Hi John. Yes, an old VHF antenna wire sticking out at about 45 degrees over the radar scanner has kept seagulls it off for several years. But this year, for the first time, a gull perched on our bow pulpit rail and covered the roller furling drum in guano!
Cormorants are the worst of all. We went through a period where they were perching on the spreaders and covering the decks with the most disgusting mess of half-digested fish remains. Running the halyards from the masthead to the rail so they bisected the spreaders seemed to deter the cormorants and, although very plentiful around here, they have not fouled our nest for a couple of years.
Cormorants are strange beasts with foul habits. I was told that the aboriginal peoples called them “sea snakes”. Around here they have a penchant for invading small offshore islands in large numbers, roosting in the scraggly spruce trees, covering everything with guano that eventually kills all the vegetation leaving nothing but bare skeletons behind.
John Milton in Paradise Lost tells how Satan, when he decided to investigate what was going on in Eden in preparation for disrupting Paradise, disguised himself as a cormorant and flew in to reconnoiter the place. Milton was not much of a humorist, but I laughed out loud at that.
Wilson
Around here we get birds building nests in booms. Obviously you can’t do much once they’ve nested in there without harming them or the chicks. Chunks of packing foam wedged in the open ends of any uncapped spars seems to be the best deterrent.