[JayG]

Last year I lost nearly all my blueberries to a very persistent lady blackbird (my netting was a bit casual; one of my daily tasks was letting her out of the netting when she panicked at my unexpected arrival!)

I have just been watching a lady blackbird (she didn't give her name so I don't know if it is the same one!) trying to batter her way into the MkII netting (new and improved for 2010!) to get at what are now my ripening blueberries!

Don't say I didn't warn you!! 

[SG6]

I see the problem,
You are assuming that they are your blueberries.
If you ask the lady in question she will point out the error of your thinking.

[Trillium]

The nerve of Jay assuming they're his 

[nilsatis1964]

I have none of my fruit netted gooseberries, black/red currants and raspberries and the birds either take so few I do not notice or none atall.  My next door neighbour netts all his fruit and complains about how much he looses.  Do you the birds think if it is not netted it is not worth having?

[sunshineband]

Thanks for the heads up, JayG -- I went out to check and one blueberry (first ever crop) is pinky colour.

Out with the debris netting and clothes pegs 

[JayG]

Thanks for the heads up, JayG -- I went out to check and one blueberry (first ever crop) is pinky colour.

Out with the debris netting and clothes pegs 

You're nearly there! green > pink > blue > purple > bingo!

SG6/Trillium: Tried to have a word with the offending lady but she said if I can't sing like her lover (who for some reason she's not heard from for a few weeks) she'd rather just concentrate on nicking my blueberries!

nilsatis: No! (well not round here anyway!) 

[tosca100]

I did consider netting my blueberries when they started to go missing as they ripened, but we lost two birds last year through netting so decided against it.

On a similar note, noticed when I went to the bin that a couple of french beans were ready, the first of the season. Toddled in to wash my hands as I had been handling chicken and when I came out to pick and chomp said beans, this is what I found....


Darling pup had only helped herself! Grrrrr. Did manage to get one...all crunchy and sweet, lovely.

A little while later I looked out to see what mischief the too-quiet pup was up to...delicately plucking little green toms off the plants on the patio!

The point to this reply being...if I net the blueberries will I catch a black puppy?

[diggerjoe]

I used some fleece bags for protecting plants in winter to cover my blackcurrant bushes they popped over the top nicely  - one evening there was a flutering from inside on bag a persistant sparrow had made it way up from ground level inside the bag - from then on tied the string tight at the bottom so now have to undo very tight knots to get at blackcurrants but at least no trapped birds and loads of blackcurrants this year for me

[JayG]

The point to this reply being...if I net the blueberries will I catch a black puppy?

From your description of her it is almost 100% guaranteed!!  

Don't mind sharing some of my raspberries with the sparrows as there are plenty of them, they kindly leave some for me, and they tend to have lost interest by the time the autumn ones really get going, but the blueberries take months to ripen, are relatively few in number, and apart from about a dozen berries the blackbird literally had the lot last year!

[sunshineband]

Our blue berry plants are in pots so I shall be gathering the netting around the pot closely and pegging it tight so not to catch any birds.

We did this around the trunk of the cherry tree and actually got to eat our cherries this year.

Birds seem to eat berries even before they are fully ripe 

[operabunny]

Cheeky blackbird. Doesn't she realise she's meant to eat the snails? 

I have a pair of blackbirds who watch me ready for the slimy snacks to be tossed in their direction - perfect organic pest control 

[stompy]

I don't even have flowers on mine yet, and you guys have got fruits on.
I can't understand that 

[DD.]

I can understand it - if you read the date of the original post!

A bit of a mouldy thread! 

[stompy]

Ha ha ha, the offending blackbird has probably gone to the great blueberry bush in the sky by now 

[JayG]

What's worrying me is that I barely remember making one or two of those posts........