Keeping the birds away

[m5allen]

Just curious what methods you employ to keep birds and other critters from eating your blueberry crop. I have some bird netting that I got at Lowes, but I feel the mesh is too big - the birds can reach right in and snag a berry. It is painstaking, but I use organza bags for clusters of berries, just like I do for figs. That is very effective (but I only have 6 plants).

I have also been considering the holographic tape.

[WillsC]

Pretty lucky here as I have big blueberry commercial fields nearby but I get almost no bird predation. A few cardinals and a cat bird or two but that is about it. At the moment the bushes are LOADED with ripe fruit. I wanted to do the first large scale picking today but had a ton of figs to ship out so will do it tomorrow, probably 20 pounds or so which isn't bad for a first pick. I did not have a very good fruit set this year especially on the sweetcrisps, not sure why.

[Wisner]

I saw one of these in a hardware store. It looked like it may help. They also have some other bird deterrents on this site. I think it was around $40 each.
http://www.birdnix.com/diamond-light...ird-deterrent/

[berry whine]

This year I have put out old cd disc in my fig trees and blueberry bushes to see if it will keep the birds out. Thus far it has kept them from making their nest in them.you might want to try it.

[drphil69]

I used the bird netting last year, but I do have it "tented" so the netting mostly does not touch the BB bushes. It seemed to work, but as my bushes grow its more difficult to tent. This year I am going to try the holo-tape. If you put a bunch of twists in it and then string it, it really flashes constantly with little or no breeze.

[Gina]

A few years ago I used flashing tape - silver on one side, red on the other. I both strung it between several points (twisted to flash more - it moves in the slightest breeze) as well as strands gathered like thin ponytails hung here and there. It did keep bird damage down. But eventually they get used to it. 'They' said birds stay leery about 6 weeks. It was quite a sight all sparkly and shiny. Very festive. But since my berries are in the front yard, it also made the house look like a used car lot, lol.