Friday, July 3, 2020

When You Start to Despise Robins

The berries on our haskap bushes are j-u-s-t about ripe.  But apparently the robins don't care if the berries still have a little time to mature before reaching their peak.


 Yes, those darling little Robin Red Breast birdies have attacked our bushes with gusto so we've had to drape all three bushes with netting in the hopes of being able to harvest the berries FOR OURSELVES (I know, I'm not being very sharing) in a couple of days.

22 comments:

Michelle said...

Word got out!

Mama Pea said...

Michelle - Now I'm concerned that this will be another year we'll have to cover the blueberries which ripen after the haskap berries. And that's a much bigger job. Funny how some years the berries aren't bothered at all. Then there's a year like this. Grump! (Anybody wanna vote for just skipping the rest of 2020 -- with a redo of the first half -- and forgetting about it all together??)

Michelle said...

I could vote for that!!! But then again, I'm sure I'm supposed to be learning something or growing somehow in ways I otherwise wouldn't. Indeed, I have learned a lot more history than I was ever taught in school (since the victors write the history books), and Poppy came into our lives in 2020. Of course, without 2020 I'd still have my beloved Jackson....

Mama Pea said...

Michelle - There is always good with any bad. We just have to remember to look for the gems among the rubble.

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

Birds can be pretty ruthless. I actually think we have MORE robins this year. We also have more birds that we don't usually have for very long, like orioles. The netting seems like the perfect solution. I'm having a funny mental image of the day you pull back the netting and they all swoop in at once! (well, not funny for you.) Take care, -Jenn

Mama Pea said...

Jenn - Haha! My worst mental image is when we pull back the netting and about 50 of 'em that have found a way under the netting, bills stained purple, yell, "Surprise!" :o\

linnellnickerson@gmail.com said...

I guess they thought you planted the berries for them too!! Seems like there is always something trying to destroy your hard work! So many worries of having a garden. I bet they thought it was wonderful how you planted the bushes just for them!!! Stay safe xo

Mama Pea said...

linnellnickerson - As I mentioned above, we have had in years past had to cover the blueberries to keep the robins from eating all of them, but this is the first year they've gone after the haskap berries. What's with that? Do you suppose our very dry, near-drought condition has caused the food the robins usually feast on to be scarce?

Vera said...

When in France I used to think that we were the last in the food chain by the time everyone else had taken their share of our veg harvest, as in insects, birds, sometimes escapee chickens and escapee sheep!

Cockeyed Jo said...

It's not only robins but all birds. Our poor cherry trees and fruit bushes have been ravaged. The squirrels and rats steal our peaches, apples, and nuts. I may meet our quota for our needs this year.

Mama Pea said...

Vera - Ha, had to laugh at the thought that you were the last in the food chain! Sometimes it does feel that way, doesn't it? So why do we try so hard? Just gotta do it, that's all! :o)

Cockeyed Jo - And when the birds (or other critters) go after the bigger trees, there's just not much one can do about it . . . except be very frustrated. So good to hear you're having a good enough year to have adequate supplies for you human critters!

JustGail said...

We had a cherry tree in town, the robins always got more than we did. But the antics of the neighborhood robins "discussing" who's territory the tree was in was good for a laugh or two. Especially when 2-3 would be fighting and then others swoop in and get cherries.

Since it's been so dry, maybe they are after the water in the berries? What if you put out another water source if there's not already one? Or maybe the berries are simply particularly tasty this year like the strawberries seem to be.

Mama Pea said...

JustGail - During my childhood, we had a very large cherry tree in our back yard that my parents gave up trying to harvest cherries from. For one thing, you could only reach the lower branches without climbing up on a ladder and secondly, the birds always were the first to start "harvesting" the cherries. We have a small pond on our property where I would think the wild birds could get all the water they needed. But I have thought about the fact that perhaps our dryness has made robin's food, such as earthworms, go down deeper in the ground where the aren't as available. Wonder if that could be?

Aaron sutton said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Tim B. Inman said...

I may be too late to the party, but here is how I have learned to very easily, and very effectively - and very cheaply! - keep the birds out of my cherries and peaches, etc.: Bird Scare Tape. This is a mylar film tape about 2-inches wide. It is like shiny balloon material. It has sparkly imprints on it. Amazon - it is cheap. I tie a 2-ft (more or less) leader on a 2-ft piece of the film tape (more or less). Then tie the leader into the bush/tree. The leader is the key! I put a half dozen or so in each tree. When you get it right, the tape looks like silver snakes flying around the trees and bushes, and the birds are gone POP BANG! They hate this. One roll lasts me several seasons. Highly recommended. I've tried netting/goo etc. and really prefer this. It works.

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