Birds and Fruit

Our Summer has been pretty dry and harsh this year.  I don't think we quite managed drought status and our humidity has been much higher than is normal.  Our temperatures have certainly been up there and I think officially it was the third hottest on record.

This year though, the birds seem to be struggling.  Their numbers appear the same, (despite having outdoor cats) but their preferred diet seems to have changed.

We will have no grapes this year.  We had masses of bunches as they were growing.  They are only just ripening now, there's the faintest hint of purple starting to show and there are maybe 5 bunches left.  When you go anywhere near the grapevines, at least 10 blackbirds and thrushes fly out from it.

We didn't get any nectarines.  They weren't ripe yet either.  I think it took the birds about a week to clean an entire tree out.

My little apple tree was doing well.  The apples were ripening and I'd been picking a few as they reddened.  I was giving the small ones or partially eaten ones to the horse next door.  He'd wait for me by the fence every day on my feeding rounds, patiently eyeballing me and pointedly looking at the apple tree.  There were about 20 left, mostly looking about ready to pick, so I decided that was tomorrow's job.  Only the next day there were 4.  I could only see 3 cores and remains on the grass beneath the tree.

If it wasn't for all the birds visibly attacking my bigger apple tree, I would have believed that someone had come and stolen them.  My bigger apple tree was losing at least 15 whole apples a day.

We missed out on the plums.  Strong winds took care of them.  The late winds also took the first apricots we've ever had off our young tree.

I've never seen anything quite like it.  Well, I've seen the grapes go to the birds before, but not the other fruit and certainly not the way they're cleaning them up completely.  I haven't decided how much I begrudge the birds my fruit.  I, at least, have the option to go and get it from other sources.