Sunday, June 25, 2017

Garden Suspect... In Theft of Blueberries!









We really like blueberries... and have a few bushes in our yard.... The problem is that we are not the only ones who like those blueberries. sigh.


Beautiful blueberry blossoms indicated a  good amount of blueberries for this season. We sure looked forward to harvesting them.






 They ripen at different times so we check them every day when they are starting to ripen. 

Most years, the birds eat so many of them that we don't get many at all. This year, my husband started picking them early... and they were a bit sour, but at least WE were eating them. :)









 Even some of the nice looking blue ones were still not sweet, but we enjoyed them anyway.














































 What fun to see so many blueberries out there this year... and to be able to actually eat many of them.















  This week, I found about 5 of these beetles on the bushes and we killed as many of them as we could, but some got away. 

This is not a good thing to find Japanese Beetles as they can cause lots of damage. We will be careful to watch for them and kill them as we can. No, we will not be using pesticides, but will try to control them naturally.




 We keep checking and enjoying blueberries though, BUT... we have started to find blueberries with part of it gone... and suspected birds.















 When I was in the garden taking pictures yesterday, I was startled by this guy flying close to me to fly by the blueberry bush I was near. 

Then he landed on the fence.... and acted so innocent. (Notice the dark stuff on his beak... it is evidence!)













 Then he quickly took off again... and went back to the fence to sit and look innocent. Then I noticed the blueberry in his beak. I can't believe how fast he could fly through and get a blueberry or a part of one. 

It was also strange that I was standing only about 4 feet or so from where he was getting the blueberries, showing he wasn't scared of me being there. I guess those blueberries were just too enticing.


 So... when I saw the picture of the blueberry all over his beak, I made a fun picture and sent it to my family members on email. They laughed.




























Now, lest you become alarmed that I am truly waging war on birds, rest assured that I do like birds and have written many blog posts showing that. Here are a few of them, if you want to click on the link and see the blog posts:

Cardinals Raise Their Young

Baby Birds and Baby Humans

Busy Bird Bath House

God Feeds the Birds... a Bread Stick?

Like Baby Birds

Birds of the Air

Beautiful Cardinals

These are just some of the posts I have written about birds... backyard birds. There are many others, including about a Blue Heron, Black Swans, Geese... and more. So.... I am NOT a bird hater. Please don't assume that I am. 

Sometimes we put netting on the blueberry bushes to protect them... other times, we have used a blow up "eye" that is supposed to scare the birds. We have used an owl statue in the garden... and old CDs or streamers blowing in the wind. They are persistent though... and they like our blueberries... and our blackberries... and the tomatoes and strawberries... and more. 

SO....  I am choosing to laugh about it and plan to do better again next year. :)  This year is so busy and I am thankful we were able to eat as many of the blueberries as we did... and we will keep checking the bushes each day in case the birds leave any for us!


  If you garden, you may also face sharing your produce with the birds. How do you deal with them? Have you found some great ideas... or some that didn't work too well?  Please feel free to share in the comments. 

Thank you for visiting. I hope you have a wonderful week.   🙂





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18 comments:

  1. Fantastic photos!! Thanks so much for stopping by!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

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  2. Loved your post!....I love birds too but sometimes they can be naughty. lol

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    Replies
    1. Thank you.... so true that they can be naughty! :)

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  3. ha ha, that's hilarious that you caught him with the evidence!
    Jenna

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    1. I didn't even realize it until I looked at the picture on the computer. :) He was really fast!

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  4. Love the picture of the robin caught blue beaked. I love blueberries. Growing up I picked blueberries during my teen summers to earn money. Not an easy way to earn money. But as a result they are one of my favorite fruits. I didn't know birds loved them so much.

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    1. They really do... it is quite the battle to have some for us! Even with netting over all of the bushes in previous years, they will persistently try to get under the netting to get to the berries... and they have done it. We did get more this year than usual anyway. :) Thank you for visiting.

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  5. We love blueberries as well. I think he's a new species, a blueberry bird! lol!
    hugs,
    Jann

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    1. Funny. He sure doesn't look repentant at all, does he? :)

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  6. Your thief is adorable. Blue beak and all.
    :) gwingal

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  7. Replies
    1. We do too. We also love to pick, and eat, the blueberries right off of the bush... and I guess the bird does also! :)

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  8. I love that you caught the bird with the evidence. My husband has wanted to plant blueberries but I know that the birds would eat them before we could! We have lots of birds that visit our garden.. I guess I will continue to buy blueberries at the farmers' market! Thanks so much for sharing at Gardens Galore! Happy 4th!

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    1. They do eat them... but we also get some..... and I am so glad for our bushes. :)

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  9. Great photos as usual! Thanks for sharing your beautiful photography and humorous post at Vintage Charm!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you... I love your comment! So glad you visited. :)

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