There's been a bit of discussion lately about sweet cherries so a word
of warning. We have a heavily cropping mature sweet cherry in our
garden and the cherries are delicious - the ones left for us, that is!
They are exceedingly attractive to birds and squirrels and they will
literally gorge on them. Wood Pigeons like them and Blackbirds are
quite destructive, often slashing into cherries and leaving them
damaged rather than taking the whole fruit. We even have a pair of
Carrion Crows regularly feeding on them. When they come all other
birds leave the garden, although the pigeons will try to stand up to
them for so long. Today a flock of Starlings, 50 at least, descended
on the tree, but left in a hurry when an indignant Lord Crow dropped
vertically into the top, staying to eat a couple of cherries himself.
If anyone is hoping for a viable crop, rather than the occasional
treat, it will almost certainly be necessary to protect the ripe
cherries. Pigeons even take them green.