...but one nest-full of swallows can make a mess.
My boat building space is in a barn-type building with one end open. At present I am epoxy coating ply parts prior to hull assembly. I have a 'table' area made of two old doors laid flat on trestles and covered with plastic sheeting, on which to lay parts for coating, in batches.
Up in the roof, immediately above, is a swallows nest. The fledglings are still in the nest, being fed by busy parents flying in and out. From almost every point of view we love having them, and their arrival (from Africa!!) each spring is a thrill. They are beautiful and fascinating little creatures. However...
Immediately below the nest, on my epoxying table, is a drop zone, not very big but in the way. The parents contribute to this and, particularly just now, so do their offspring who, presumably instinctively, stick their little bottoms over the nest edge to relieve themselves (otherwise the nest would quickly fill up with bird poo). The excitement of mummy or daddy arriving back with a beakful of flies seems to provoke a gastro-colic reflex. My activities are punctuated by 'swoop - twitter - plop', and another load (admittedly individually quite small) of semi-liquid bird waste hits my epoxying work - or would do if I had not devised a number of ways of protecting things and working under cover over those few square feet.
Ah well, it's worth it, I suppose. AND this lot will leave the nest soon (there should be a second brood later - what fun!). AND at least they haven't managed to hit me - yet: watch this space.
Probably a silly question - is there any alternative, for epoxy coating activities, to using disposable foam rollers at £1-30 a throw? If not, has anyone identified a relatively cheap source of said articles?
(SP Cadenza + T12 in build)
