Hull woman battles in court to preserve right to feed birds — lots of birds

By Adam Sege, Globe Correspondent

A Hull woman who has allegedly created a nuisance by overfeeding swarms of local birds battled against the town today in a Housing Court hearing full of contentious exchanges and snickering among spectators.

After six hours of testimony in the case of Gail Kansky, the area’s most controversial bird feeder, a judge gave attorneys three weeks to submit additional arguments.

The town of Hull is seeking an injunction to stop Kansky from what it calls excessive birdfeeding. Officials say the woman fills a bird feeder so frequently that more than 100 birds frequent the area, leaving droppings on the property of nearby residents and possibly contributing to a rat problem.

A lawyer for Kansky today accused officials of bullying Kansky, who is 71, and her husband.

Kansky said during testimony today that the droppings her neighbors complained about where not from the birds that visit her bird feeder.

“I won’t take down the bird feeder because I’m not wrong,” he said.

Judge Wilbur Edwards asked attorneys from both sides to limit their inquiries to the issue of the bird feeder.

“There seems to be a major dispute between these two neighbors,” the judge said, after Kansky spoke of an argument with a woman who lived nearby. “All I’m dealing with is the birds.”