We shall fight them on the beaches....

Well today the first thing that caught my attention on going out the door into the garden, was the damn blackbird eating my tomatoes. He KEPT eating em too, right up till I got within throwing distance!

The Tigerella and my only whole tom so far!

On checking the casualties I also found a half-eaten  Tigerella on the plant (UNDER the bird netting I might add), and about 5 tomatoes  in varying states of both consumption and ripeness all over the lawn. I'd love to say "BIRDS......THIS IS WAR!!!" but I suspect I'd lose, so I guess its the next best thing, which is, minimising the damage as far as possible, in a kind of horticultural trench warfare.
Now, everyone knows that birds are scared of shiny things that flutter about, right?

Wrong!....and just for the record, "everyone" is an idiot, don't trust a word of it!!

The so-called birdscarer

Well ok, I'm willing to accept that some birds might be scared of such things, but they're not taking into account the blackbirds 'round here. I speak with authority on this topic because I spent an hour or so this morning chopping up a box. The reasons for this shall become clear. I, too had been told that birds are scared of shiny things, so on taking a good hard look at what I have lying around, my gaze lit on the boxes that the meat gets delivered in each week. Because the meat needs to be kept chilled, the cartons it comes in are made of corrugated card, BUT, and this is the important bit (in case you wondering if there actually WAS a point to this), they're coated with a plastic layer thats highly reflective. Bingo!! Cut it up into pieces, thread it onto string, and hang it over the plants, et voila!

It fluttered, it flashed.....it damn near blinded me a couple of times, but did it scare the birds?

The evidence!!

Did it heck.
Whilst sitting not 3 feet from the pictured plants, a blackbird flew onto a tomato under the so-called bird scarer, it looked at me, I looked at it, and then it scrambled, not flew, but scrambled up onto the deck right in front of me, and nicked one of the green toms off the table there!!!   I didn't even think he was gonna drop his booty when I hared up onto the deck after him, but I guess I'm scarier than I thought, and he dropped his ill gotten gains and made his getaway, by AIR this time. I'm torn really though. On the one hand I can admire an animal that is making its way in the world using what it has, and really, getting one over on the humans....but on the other hand I want to throttle the thieving little feathered bastard!!!
Soooo....it's birds 2, me nil
But the battle is not over yet. Next stop, the local garden centre for a roll of bird netting and some stakes. I may be battered from The Battle of the Tomatoes, but I'll be buggered if the Stone and Pipfruit battle is gonna be lost without a fight!!!
(and don't even get me started on the snails!!)
The garden war goes on LOL