How do I restore timber damaged by bird droppings?

[Lime]

Edit 2: Should "googled" be capitalised, or is it now as ubiquitous as the hoover?

Pedantic perhaps, but googled is a verb not a noun is it not?


Anyway until there is any worthwhile competition (meaning a search engine becomes as good or better than Google now or Google becomes worse than it has already become) I don't think there is any alternative.
Bing just doesn't cut it for me.

 

[Penners]

Should "googled" be capitalised

I think you'll find that Google is capitalised to the tune of some $144bn. That's even more dollars than I have eaten chips in my life.

 

[philpjuk100]

Oooh! chips! no salt please its bad for you!phil(food again!).

 

[Flyfisher]

Just back from Cornwall and there were certainly no lack of sparrows around the cottage we rented.

 

[jaykayem]

Flyfisher - marvellous photos, can I ask what camera you used? I'm in the market for a new one!

 

[Sue Wilkinson]

I love all the baby bird pictures. And the dragonfly. I didn't know they ate wasps either. They don't eat enough of them though.

I don't think the bird poo was the problem. Years ago now my Gran died. She lived on a ramshackle old farm. When clearing it out Dad found this "thing" hanging on a nail in a cow shed rafter. Totally caked in poo of the bird kind. He proudly gave it to me and said he though I might like it. I was secretly horrified. It was a fire fender. Wood. Totally horrible. I dutifully brought it home and stuck it somewhere at the back of the barn. It spent many decades in the backs of barns one way or another. Then one day I thought I'd just take it to the tip. Got it out and conscience pricked. I thought I'd give it quick clean and see if it were any good for Ebay.

I scraped off the bulk of the mess (that changed the contours a bit) then I scrubbed it. Then when dry I wire wooled it and then applied some quick polish intending to photograph it. I needed somewhere to put it where it wouldn't get damp now it was polished (after a fashion!). So I carried it in and realised that the fireplace in the dining room looked about the same size..... It fitted perfectly and went totally. It had belonged to my Great Grandmother and I have her dining table and similar age chairs. It's never moved since and neither will it. If I'd known how good it would look I would have taken the time to restore it properly and apply some stain and shellac before the polish!

The point is it was covered, I mean totally covered in poo for decades and it's not in the least bit rotten.

 

[Flyfisher]

jaykayem - I have a Canon 350D DSLR, now discontinued. I think it was Canon's entry-level DSLR at the time and is only 8MP. Current equivalent is probably the 450D or 500D; both are cheaper than mine was and have better specs (mine is 4 years old after all :roll: ).

However, the key to the photos was probably the 300mm F4L lens I was using. My approach is to buy the cheapest camera body (because they become outdated so quickly) but splash out a bit on good lenses, which should outlast me.