Spamlet wrote:
I had a yearly battle with the blackbirds - and even blue tits when it comes
to cherries -, and, last year went to great lengths to fit a net over the
cherry tree, fleece over the redcurrants (works!) and net over the
strawberries. The nets were useless, they just attract the birds to keep
divebombing until they either get in or knock the contents to the ground
where they can pick them up.

Proof of the pudding: this year I am ill, the strawberries and cherries went
unprotected. Strawberries just dried up with nothing eating them at all;
cherries fell to the ground fully ripe. Nobody ate them, not even the
birds.

How strange. This year we did net the cherries for the first time,a nd for
the first time ever, we got a crop of about a dozen /really/ nice cherries.
We will net them earlier next year.

Our strawberries are always netted, even though we get enough that they
probably couldn't eat a noticable amount.

And our redcurrants did really well despite not being netted - the leaves
made a very good protective canopy over all of the currants and gooseberries
this year.

Birds aren't stupid: you are just showing them what is good to eat by trying
to protect it. Sad thing is, many seem not even to know what wild food is
any more and the cherries that grow in the street are rarely touched by
either bird or child.

I've found the slugs are good for findign the best strawberries!