North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>]

No doubt that's why they were snared. But I have seen juncos feeding  
on my red currants.

The low hardware-cloth fence around the blueberries has completely  
eliminated critter-death in my blueberry netting (even though I use  
the black monofilament stuff).  An outdoor cat has eliminated the  
need to net the currants and raspberries, so long as I pick them  
fairly promptly.  She kills some critters, but at least I don't have  
to disentangle the little corpses from my netting.

I'm intrigued by the white woven netting, however, which I hadn't  
seen before.  I hate the black monofilament stuff.  It's fragile, and  
it gets tangled in everything, such as my buttons and itself.   
Contrary to Alan's experience, most of the birds do seem to see it,  
however.  Two years ago a bird watched me as I spread the netting  
over my just-about-ripe blueberry bed.  As soon as I finished, the  
bird checked it out, hopping from post to post (I drape the netting  
over the same posts that the hardware cloth is attached to), looking  
carefully at the protected blueberries, and tweeting loudly at each  
stop.  Perhaps it was my imagination, but he certainly sounded  
frustrated and angry with me.  (I don't remember the species.  It  
wasn't a junco, something more solitary and territorial that had been  
guarding the patch from its kin, I think.)

Ginda


On Nov 25, 2007, at 10:11 AM, Jim Fruth wrote:

> Ginda,
>     Don't blame the Juncos.  They are ground feeding seed eaters.   
> Notice
> how they scratch the ground, then peck at seeds (usually weed  
> seeds) they
> uncovered.
>     One year I thought it would be cute to have them eat at my  
> (sunflower
> seed) bird feeder.  A flock of them had been feeding on the ground  
> under it
> for several days.  So I set the feeder on the ground  and, every  
> day, I
> adjusted it up a little higher.  They seemed to be voracious eaters  
> because
> the feeder was emptied every day.  By the time I got it to window  
> level so I
> could watch them, I was appalled over what I had done.  The Juncos  
> didn't
> know how to open the sunflower seed shells so they scratched them  
> overboard
> looking for the shelled bits and the Chickadees were eating off the  
> ground.
> I was wondering how the cats could catch so many Chickadees.
>
> Jim Fruth
> Brambleberry Farm
> Pequot Lakes, MN  56472
> For jams, jellies & syrups:
> www.bberryfarm.com
> (877)265-6856 [Store]
> (218)831-7018 [My Cell]
>
> I think the squirrels and chipmunks do more damage overall than any  
> birds,
> but the birds I snared in netting over my blueberries and currants  
> were
> mostly juncos.  Whether that's because they are the worst fruit- 
> eaters or
> just because they are dumb or have poor eyesight or are other wise  
> prone to
> snaring, I can't say.
> ___
> Ginda
>
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