OK, here's a problem I never thought I'd have.

Thrice now I have had seagulls/ terns get tangled up in my lines. In no case were any hurt, as they appeared to tumble a bit, recover and fly away in a healthy looking fashion. It's usually when I approach a flock sitting together on the beach. They see me, they see the kite, but apparently not the lines. They take off and fly in the direction of my travel but I catch up. When I am overtaking them my lines are right in the middle of the flying flock and when they change direction suddennly, that's when they hit a line.

I'de hate to think of what would happen if they hit me head on.

Often I have room to maneuver down wind of a flock but not in every case.

Anyone ever have this hapen and find a fix? I was thinking of tying bits of bright plastic streamers at intervals on the lines in order to offer better visability. Anyone try this?

I've always promoted kite buggying as an eco-freindly sport, and shredding the local wildlife certainly would not fit with that picture. I don't wnat to hurt the little fellas.

Last night I had a baby seagull using my jet stream just above my kite to sore. He followed be back and forth for 3 runs but stayed above the kite using the pocket for lift. The baby seagulls seem curious but mature birds stay clear !
It's not the same I know. Even though I have no love for seagulls I'ld hate to hurt one.

well you could always use manja line :evil: or even kevlar to cut them in half :bird: and keep going. :wow: :o :wink2:

I had a Swallow hit my line once at Shoreline Park in Mountain View, CA. Startling to say the least. But no harm done that I could tell. The little bugger just kept on going...

Good luck...

The last few times I've been out flocks of birds have flown towards me and the kite. I am alway scared that they will hit the lines, but so far they have proven to be pretty smart and steer clear.

Snowbird- that must have been kinda cool with the baby seagull :bird:

Quote:

Originally posted by archkiter The last few times I've been out flocks of birds have flown towards me and the kite. I am alway scared that they will hit the lines, but so far they have proven to be pretty smart and steer clear.

They have been well schooled here at sunset beach anyway.

I'm sorry to say that some have learned the hard way. But least it has been awhile.

They hit the lines in Texas also. I have encountered many sea gulls hiting my lines but they all seem to fly away unhurt.

Susan

...You could dump a few cartons' worth of crackers in a heap at one end of the beach. Once one birdie sees it, they'll all head for it and free up the rest of the beach for ya...For a while anyway.
Possibly.

Unless there's a NO BIRD FEEDING law there...in which case, don't do that.

:tumble:

Quote:

Originally posted by sunset-Jim Quote: Originally posted by archkiter The last few times I've been out flocks of birds have flown towards me and the kite. I am alway scared that they will hit the lines, but so far they have proven to be pretty smart and steer clear. They have been well schooled here at sunset beach anyway. I'm sorry to say that some have learned the hard way. But least it has been awhile.

I guess the smart ones survive- natural selection :rodent:

It seems that you have trained them well

Quote:

Originally posted by crosshatch ...You could dump a few cartons' worth of crackers in a heap at one end of the beach. Once one birdie sees it, they'll all head for it and free up the rest of the beach for ya...For a while anyway. Possibly. Unless there's a NO BIRD FEEDING law there...in which case, don't do that. :tumble:

Well the good news/ bad news is that, as we head into "off season", I am blessed with near 4-mile beach runs, so it is hard to pre-feed the whole beach. I typically run into several different flocks. Maybe if I had a cracker ejector... Just like the fighter jets let off chaff or flares to ward away incoming missles.

Hmmm. Maybe a new project for the CWS Skunk Works...

Heheheh :tumble:
I like the cracker-chaff idea...but I'm thinking it would add weight to a kite...plus someone, buggypilot or a person walkin' the beach, may get an eyeful of cracker crumbs..and if we're talking Saltines, that's gonna burn.

If you google "seagull repel sonic distress", you'll get some hits on electronic bird repelling devices, some of which are preloaded to shoo seagulls away. Some of the units are small enough to ziptie to a buggy, I think.
Far as I can tell, according to the product descriptions, after the seagulls've heard you playing the 'seagull in distress' song every time they saw the buggy coming, they'd associate kitebuggy with "UH OH TIME TO GO!", and eventually you wouldn't need the device anymore.
(I suppose one could download the distress cry and play it over a speaker w/an mp3 player to experiment...)

Or maybe contact your local wildlife department and see about having a Birds of Prey Demonstration near or on the beach. Might buy you a few hours of gull-free beach after the demonstration.

I hear they taste "Just like Chicken"! But haven't had that problem yet,,, I will let you know Angus if I come up with any ideas, but the distress call attachec to the buggy sounds like a good idea.