next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
This year looked as if it would be the first one in which my high bush blueberries would produce a reasonable crop and I was looking forward to it. We have several varieties planted and the earliest ones attracted a flock of birds so I had to act. I covered the bushes with black plastic bird netting, sold for the purpose. The manufacturer states that birds are fearful of becoming entangled and won't even try to get under it! WELL!! if you believe that, do I have a deal for you! They will readily crawl under any tiny hole that opens up by the vagaries of weather and will do so repeatedly. Once or twice a day I roar out to the blueberries like an avenging angel and try to scare the daylights out of whatever is there so that they get flustered and rush into the net. That part works - I then have to release the frantic birds by hand. Scarred - not a bit, they usually come right back within a short period of time. So much for that claim! I have been very surprised to note the nature of my catches, I had been expecting, Grackles, Starlings, Robins, Blue Jays etc, possibly even a crow. Not a bit of it - I have spent all my time releasing Chipping and Song Sparrows. Not the culprits I would have thought would be raiding my fruit. I have also seen the local Catbird wandering around the blueberries but not under the net. I am not sure if he is too smart to be caught or he just likes to watch the fuss the other birds create - he is certainly amazingly curious and quite brazen. One other frustration is the fact that right next to the blueberries is a line of very ripe gooseberries that are not covered. They seem to be ignored by most birds. The local number of Nighthawks is slowly increasing, last night we had 15 of them. They flew over about 7pm, heading towards the Annapolis River. They returned about 8pm and stayed until about 8:45 feeding over the Walker Brook area and my home. This time they were high up, and clearly having a lot of success. I wish they would drop lower and clean up the latest generation of mosquitoes. I now have more bites than I have had all year. John Belbin - Kingston
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects