Half-Hidden Owl

We bought this sand-weighted, plastic owl a few years back to scare birds off our patio railing, which worked, but in plain view the birds figured out it wasn't a threat.  I recently moved it to the elevated herb garden after seeing a bird nip off a piece of basil and fly away with it.  But unexpectedly, we now don't see many birds anywhere in our yard, which I can only attribute to the owl being partially hidden, making it appear more dangerous.  Time will tell if the birds figure this out, but so far (ten days), so good.