I have been wandering around the garden over the last few months wondering how it can be that I have so much unprotected fruit available. I have never seen so many strawberries, I am picking them for breakfast and lunch every day, whereas normally the Blackbirds get them well before I can. And the unnetted trees are full of apples, nashi pears and plums. How can that be?
I had noticed that the birds had not been around, but did not take much notice of that, until suddenly it all fell into place.
I was sitting out the back watching some pensive Currawongs, thinking how nice it was to see them again, when a Cockatoo joined them and started to make a hell of a noise, as they tend to do, and suddenly from out of nowhere a hawk flew in amongst them scattering them in every direction! And there was the answer to my fruit abundance – hawks had set up home nearby and were scaring the birds off. Now I know they are there, I hear and see them all the time. It's great to have all the fruit, but I do miss the other birds being around. I understand from a customer that falcons do the same job.
I don’t know the nesting habits of hawks or falcons so this may or may not be a permanent solution, but something tells me that at some stage I will be needing netting again.
Enjoy
Peter