Decorative balls discourage birds during freeway project near Summerland

SUMMERLAND, Calif. - A popular bird nesting area now looks like someone threw a party and the decorations got in to the nearby trees. It's all part of a plan.

Drivers on Highway 101 at the not-so-defined Summerland-Montecito border have been seeing colorful balls and streamers in the trees.

It's an area where cormorants have nested for several years. They also have turned some of the dark trees white with their droppings.

During the Highway 101 widening and bridge replacement project, a plan was created to encourage the birds to go to other nearby trees.

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments and the State Department of Fish and Wildlife were among those to review the project favoring the low-level approach to sending the birds a message.

It has apparently worked.

The project is in high gear nearby, and the birds are not in harm's way from noise, dust or fear of big, heavy equipment near the Sheffield Drive exit.

A biologist is on hand to watch how the plan is going.

When the work is done the tree distractions will be removed, and experts believe the birds will be right back where they were before the earth moving equipment arrived.

For more information, visit SBCAG.