Poll

What is your station modification status and bird issue situation

WS-2xxx owner: No modifications, No bird issues
21 (46.7%)
WS-2xxx owner: No modifications, Having bird issues
3 (6.7%)
WS-2xxx owner: Modifications made because of potential bird issues
4 (8.9%)
WS-2XXX owner: Modifications made because of real bird issues - problem solved
1 (2.2%)
WS-2XXX owner: Modifications made because of real bird issues - problem not solved
0 (0%)
Potential Future WS-2xxx owner: Not concerned about bird issues
1 (2.2%)
Potential Future WS-2xxx owner: Yes, concerned about bird issues
3 (6.7%)
Other model owner: No modifications, No bird issues
6 (13.3%)
Other model owner: No modifications, Having bird issues
1 (2.2%)
Other model owner: Modifications made because of potential bird issues
3 (6.7%)
Other model owner: Modifications made because of real bird issues - problem solved
2 (4.4%)
Other model owner: Modifications made because of real bird issues - problem not solved
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 45

Author Topic: Poll + Discussion: WS-2902A WS-2000 Bird Proofing Methods, Spikes, Scare Tape  (Read 4561 times)

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Offline galfert

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Purpose: To discuss the methods in dealing with birds for WS-2902A and WS-2000 owners

Don't forget to vote on the poll above ^^^
I made the poll so that you can change your vote should your situation change.

It is possible that this is a non-issue. Maybe birds don't like the WS-2xxx series stations. We can still discuss how we feel about it, or if we did anything preemptively. Please share if you have made modifications.

Other model station owners: Feel free to share your thoughts and recommendations for WS-2xxx owners.

Please include pictures if you've done any modifications to your WS-2xxx.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2018, 08:49:16 AM by galfert »
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Offline galfert

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Before I ordered my WS-2902A I was worried about bird issues. I was for sure determined to preemptively add some bird spikes somehow (and maybe even scare tape).

Here I am a few months later and I never did it. But I've never seen a bird on my WS-2902A. I haven't done a maintenance yet though, so I may find evidence of bird droppings. Then I'll for sure need to do something.

Besides bird spikes I learned about bird scare tape. This stuff looks neat and I saw a few videos. The tape is always hanging when I've seen it demonstrated. The tape is reflective and looks like shards of pointy metal but it really is just visual. I was wondering if it would still work if it was just put on around the rim as in taped down but not hanging. It would still reflect and look like sharp edges I think. This was another consideration instead of spikes. Or maybe both.

I'm still concerned and this weighs in the back of my mind whether I should do something. Is it possibile that birds just don't care for our WS-2xxx sensor arrays? Have you seen a bird on your WS-2xxx?

If you were to add spikes how would you do it? I've thought about it and seen solutions from somehow attaching metal pins to using zip ties taped down and pointing up.

Please share your thoughts and ideas and experiences. Is this even a concern for some of you?

« Last Edit: October 28, 2018, 08:06:57 PM by galfert »
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Offline Sir_MAK

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Funny that the actual outdoor sensor is called an Osprey.   :-P
Ambient WS-2000, Central Ohio - WU WC
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WS-2902, Lake Erie   -    WU WC

Offline cjtamu

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I’ve only had mine up since Sunday, but no bird issues so far. And we have a lot of birds on our property, from hummingbirds to the occasional heron. Maybe they don’t like the spinning anemometer? We had severe bird issues in parking garage at my office for a bit. Management company put up a fake owl. It worked. Might work for a PWS as well.

Offline galfert

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The fake owl is a good idea that I've seen other houses around me do to keep birds away. The problem with the fake owl is that my wife and kids love nature and animals. They have a garden with bird feeders and bird bath and they don't want to scare the birds. We have all kinds of birds, from  eagles, hawks, real owls, cardinals, bluejays, hummingbirds, and a bunch others little ones that I just couldn't name. I'm not into the birds.

When I brought up the scare tape to my family they freaked. I thought maybe if the scare tape was just wrapped around the rain guage it would work and not scare them away from the rest of the garden.

It is funny how our outdoor unit is called the Osprey. Thanks Sir_MAK for pointing that out.

I need a solution that would work just for the senor array and not the entire yard. At least maybe I think I need a solution. Maybe we are jumping the gun and birds just don't care for our sensor arrays. That is why I posted the poll above, to see if other people have a bird problem with this sensor array or not.

In a way I don't want to make the modification unless I really need it. So I'm kinda waiting for the first bird to then do something about it. Otherwise we won't know if it was necessary or not. Again I think if everyone participates in the poll we get a better idea. It might be sufficient for me to do something if someone with the same type of bird that I have around tells us a given bird is making a mess in their rain guage. Post some pictures of birds on your sensor array so we can identify the bird if this happens.

The idea about aluminum foil strip sounds a lot like the scare tape. It is just a DIY variation I suppose.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2018, 08:45:48 AM by galfert »
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Offline SWX

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No modifications here. I’ve had bird droppings (everywhere, not just the rain gauge), but I’ve never seen any birds hanging out near the station, but then again it’s only 5-6 feet off of the ground.

Spiders, however, love setting up shop inside the rain gauge. Their webs are strong enough to hold the tipper in place, it won’t budge even if it’s full of water during the heaviest of rains. I experienced this last month during a strong thunderstorm, and while trying to clean out the webs during a brief lull I got to witness ball lightning, the strangest weather phenomenon I’ve ever seen, but that’s another story.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2018, 12:57:50 PM by SupaWX »
Wunderground / PWS Weather
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Ambient WeatherBridge
Ecowitt GW1000
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Ecowitt WH41
Ecowitt WH51 x 2
Ecowitt WH57
Ecowitt WS68

Offline cjtamu

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Interesting about the spiders. I noticed yesterday that there were bits of spider web on the underside of my rain gauge, and it had only been up three days. Will have to keep an eye out for spiders getting inside.

Offline galfert

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I had never heard of ball lighting before. Looked it up. Neat!

The most incredible thing just happened. One of the hawks around us came to visit. I've seen this guy around before and he/she has been on my chimney and roof gutters before. But I've never seen him/her land on the bird feeder pole before. I'm glad my weather station as you can see in the picture was not the first choice to land on.  Makes me wonder though if my weather station could be next for this fella. Once I get rid of this temporary pole and set the flag pole up my sensor array will be much higher up and may become even more inviting. Now that is a lot of bird!

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« Last Edit: October 11, 2018, 06:03:05 PM by galfert »
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Offline wase4711

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nice hawk photo!
so far, no birds have even come close to mine, in the foothills of Phoenix mountains, and, I have the pole mounted near my barbque station not far from myhouse...tons of all sorts of birds here, but so far, so good

Offline galfert

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I found a thread in the "other hardware" sub forum discussing this issue with an Ecowitt station, which is a clone of our Ambient stations. We'll rather I should be saying Ecowitt and Ambient are both Fine Offset clones.

Check out the photos of the spike mod. Very nice.
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=34971.0
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Offline galfert

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Relevant link to other post with DIY bird spike solution. Thanks to Buford T. Justice. I'm sure when he was building this solution he was thinking about the birds and saying, "What we are dealing with here is total lack of respect..."

https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=35387.0
« Last Edit: October 28, 2018, 04:51:59 PM by galfert »
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Offline Buford T. Justice

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Relevant link to other post with DIY bird spike solution. Thanks to Buford T. Justice. I'm sure when he was building this solution he was thinking about the birds and saying, "What we are dealing with here is total lack of respect..."

https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=35387.0
=D>

Offline galfert

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Buford T. Justice,
So according to the last poll change you selected that you made this modification preemptively and you hadn't experienced yet any real bird issues.

I'm holding out till I find the first evidence of bird doings before I take action, as I want to know if the solution is warranted. But your solution seems pretty good to me and one that I would follow.
Ecowitt GW1000 | Meteobridge on Raspberry Pi
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Offline Buford T. Justice

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My new weather station has only been up since the 20th.  My old one, an Ambient Weather WS2905, did get bird crap in it a few times during the year.  I was replacing the sensor batteries every 3-4 weeks so I would check it and clean it as needed.  I figured since the new one is mostly solar-powered with the lithium Energizers lasting up to 2 years, I would be on the roof less often so I took the initiative to keep the birds away.  $4 for the zip ties and free peace of mind.

Offline CW2274

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When no rain is expected (that never happens here....), my 8" Rainwise is bird proofed by a large stove pot cover put on upside down and I throw a big rock on top as an anchor. If it's uncovered and I see an unwelcome perch, 1 pump from the Daisy 880S discourages further visits.

Offline havtrail

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The use of bird spikes around the perimeter of any rail collector seems to me to "violate" the CWOP standards for rain collectors. The guidelines want anything that could cause interference or splatter to be a distance from the rim of the collector that is at least half the height of the object. Bird spikes have a distance away of zero. (Poles that rise above the top of the rain collector rim would also be an issue, in my thinking.)

The weather station I am involved with is a Onset HOBO. Their rain collector has a removable metal top section with an inch or so vertical inside and then the taper of the funnel starts. It is literally so sharp on the top of the rim that you have to be careful handling it. I think that's to keep birds from wanting to perch on it. Wouldn't a sharp edge work on other designs? On plastic, it should be easy to use a hobby knife sideways at a high angle to scrape down the top of the inside edge to make the rim sharper.

The survey seems to be showing most people don't have a bird issue, so they would have to do anything.

Rich K.
Onset HOBO RX2102 Cellular
https://www.havtrail.com/weather/
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Offline CW2274

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The use of bird spikes around the perimeter of any rail collector seems to me to "violate" the CWOP standards for rain collectors.
I really don't see how tiny diameter spikes could effect accuracy even close enough to add/subtract from the basic errors inherent with tippers as is.

Offline galfert

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Havtrail,
I've contemplated the same thought you had that bird spikes could affect rain collection measurements. But I reasoned that if it truly were an issue then Davis would not have incorporated the solution in the VP2. The VP2 only gained bird spikes rather recently circa late 2015 or early 2016 I think. I'm sure that they tested the solution well.

That said there are ways to do it wrong. For example this below link DIY solution to me is the wrong approach (apologies to rods55555, sorry but not feeling it) because the diameter of the collector is being changed and even though there is a small gap there is a great chance of water splatter and jumping off from being collected. I feel this regardless of rods55555's positive comparison results, as I think different types of rain (larger drops or faster rate) could have different results.
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=32543.0

I do agree with you though when I see a rain collector bolted to a pole that continues to extend up for the anemometer. If the wind is right then that pole during a rain shower could be blocking the rain collection.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2018, 09:25:48 PM by galfert »
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Offline jas340

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Everyone, make sure you are sitting down...I paid $155.00 for my factory bird spike kit.  #-o I am not rich by any means. The wife will NEVER know about it. You guys are privy  8-)

Offline galfert

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Everyone, make sure you are sitting down...I paid $155.00 for my factory bird spike kit.  #-o I am not rich by any means. The wife will NEVER know about it. You guys are privy  8-)

I'm interested in what a $155 bird spike kit looks like. Please share pictures or a link or a model.

Incidentally I just recently completed my initial 3 month maintenance* and I found no evidence of bird droppings. Hence until I see a bird or droppings on my station I don't think I'll be doing any modifications. It really is looking like for some reason our station design does not require any bird spikes. Maybe it is the proximity of the spinning anemometer that birds don't like. There also has not been any reported bird issues with the WS-2902A outdoor sensor array... yet.

*If you haven't seen my other thread regarding the maintenance that is recommended every 3 months please check it out.
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=35446.0
« Last Edit: November 07, 2018, 10:35:11 AM by galfert »
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Offline galfert

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Here is a link.

https://store.vaisala.com/us/bird-kit-for-wxt530-series/212793/dp

Nice. With that bird kit for the Vaisala WXT530 series, I'm wondering if less is more. There are only 6 spikes total for what appears to be a standard 4 inch diameter rain gauge. So for anyone doing the DIY zip tie mod maybe having twice as many spikes is unnecessary. That way there is less possible interference with rain in windy weather.

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Vaisala Bird Spikes
« Last Edit: December 19, 2019, 11:06:52 AM by galfert »
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Offline weather34

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Everyone, make sure you are sitting down...I paid $155.00 for my factory bird spike kit.  #-o I am not rich by any means. The wife will NEVER know about it. You guys are privy  8-)

I'm interested in what a $155 bird spike kit looks like. Please share pictures or a link or a model.

Incidentally I just recently completed my initial 3 month maintenance* and I found no evidence of bird droppings. Hence until I see a bird or droppings on my station I don't think I'll be doing any modifications. It really is looking like for some reason our station design does not require any bird spikes. Maybe it is the proximity of the spinning anemometer that birds don't like. There also has not been any reported bird issues with the WS-2902A outdoor sensor array... yet.

*If you haven't seen my other thread regarding the maintenance that is recommended every 3 months please check it out.
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=35446.0

put it down to luck , it will happen one day and doesnt neccesary mean the bird(s) is perched on your weather station it may just be flying over, this time of year all the local starlings gather for their annual display literally thousands of them fly over creating dancing patterns as they swing from side to side if your underneath  the fly over your will get crapped on and your weather station will so spikes become irrelevant ..

here is what they create normally around sunset , took this in a district here in Istanbul we were covered in crap , basically iso1200 and kept the finger on the trigger to capture the moment .

ps thats the most expensive bird spike i have ever seen was the cost based on for the time it took make it because it sure doesnt look worth the cost by the photo..



Offline weather34

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Here is a link.

https://store.vaisala.com/us/bird-kit-for-wxt530-series/212793/dp

Nice. With that bird kit for the Vaisala WXT530 series, I'm wondering if less is more. There are only 6 spikes total for what appears to be a standard 4 inch diameter rain guage. So for anyone doing the DIY zip tie mod maybe having twice as many spikes is unnecessary. That way there is less possible interference with rain in windy weather.

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Vaisala Bird Spikes

i did this for the weatherflow gear based on a idea by someone called hankster


Offline galfert

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Weather 34,
Those bird spikes are seriously dangerous looking... LOL! They appear to be fondue forks if I'm correct.  I can just hear it now, "Honey, have you seen the fondue forks?"
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anything