A contractor prodded a blackbird nest in a Dunedin traffic light cowl and showered eggs on a co-worker below, an eye witness says.
Wayne, of Dunedin, who did not want his surname published, said he had stopped at a red light in Gordon St when he saw two male contractors working.
One contractor was on the footpath. The other was on a small stepladder and was using a plastic barrier arm to ''jab'' at the bottom of a blackbird nest in a traffic light cowl on Crawford St, Wayne said.
"It looked like he was doing a bit of panel beating.''
The contractor "prodded'' the nest until it fell and hit his workmate on his hard hat, Wayne said
The contractor removed his hard hat to inspect the "remnants'' of something, he said.
"The eggs must have broken on his hard hat.''
Wayne said when the traffic light turned green, the contractors were looking "concerned'' and pointing at trees near The Oval.
When the ODT visited the site yesterday, an empty nest was discovered in a nearby tree.
After the nest fell, it was in "good nick'' and handled the impact well, Wayne said.
"It was pretty well made - it is a pretty clever little blackbird.''
On the day the nest was removed, council contract manager Peter Hughes told the ODT the nest "wasn't particularly well constructed'' and had disintegrated on removal.
Council communications and marketing manager Graham McKerracher yesterday said the nest was removed from the lights so drivers would not be
distracted.
"It is unfortunate the eggs were broken during nest removal. We asked for the nest to be removed by our contractor but did not outline how it was to be done.''
The council did not have a written protocol for contractors on nest removal as it was an infrequent occurrence, he said
The council and its contractor would investigate if there was a practical option to discourage further nesting in the lights.
"Alternatively, we will adopt a better technique for removal.''
Mr McKerracher said the contractors the council used were Downer staff, not Fulton Hogan staff, as the council had previously informed the ODT.
Downer Southern region operations manager Stewart Hall declined to comment on the contract work and told the ODT any comment needed to be
made by the council.
