Blueberries and blackbirds

I would have found it all comical were it not for the fact that the blackbirds had already eaten most of my plump ripe blueberries.

When I went downstairs for breakfast I glanced out of the kitchen window and immediately noticed something amiss with the blueberry bush. Where yesterday there had been a good crop ready for picking, I could not see any fruit! So I padded out in my nightie hoping no one was watching, to survey the damage.

Sure enough, the birds had managed to find a way in through the plastic screening I had erected around the bush. I thought the mesh size was too small for the birds - but clearly not - or they have just become smarter at squeezing through the holes. It worked last year. Anyway, they had eaten all the ripe berries, leaving only a handful of those still to ripen. I must at least salvage those, I thought, so I straightaway replaced the screening mesh, using some with smaller holes! And went back indoors for breakfast.

Within less than a minute two blackbirds came down, a male and his mate. They strutted around the new guard, tried to cling to its sides, perched on top, walked around it again, and so on .... They just could not believe what had happened or understand why they could no longer get in to eat the fruit! It took quite a while before they gave up and went away! I wish I could have filmed their antics. They were very funny.