[Blondie]

Well after lovingly tending my red currant bush and enjoying literally the first couple which ripened, the local blackbird family decimated every single berry in less than 48 hours.

On top of that the dog has developed a sweet tooth and is plucking the strawberries off and munching them as soon as they near ripeness. (Not to mention the brocolli and any broad beans that happen to be in her path.)

Lesson learnt and a fruit cage will be ordered and the mini veg patch and fruit patch will be rearranged.

[Fleecewife]

Blackbirds seem particularly fond of redcurrants, don't they  .  I have three large bushes, which crop well each year, but I haven't had enough fruit to make even one small jar of jelly for several years     The blackbird family is really healthy though 

[Blondie]

Our male blackbird is actually pied so is very distinctive and has 3 babies. The four of them basically live in our front and rear gardens. Never seen mum.

They are so damn take now, they take no notice of the dog and will let you get about 3ft from them before they fly off

[Fleecewife]

Maybe it's not that they're tame but just too stuffed to fly 

[Lesley Silvester]

I have a jostaberry and the sparrows love the berries. I do get a lot for myself though. The birds don't seem to be interested in blueberries, thank goodness, and they mostly leave the strawberries along but the slugs or earwigs have those.

[laurelrus]

We lost 99% of our strawberries to the crows last year so used flexible pipe and netting to cover the beds this time!

[Mickey]

Charles Dowding of the No-Dig site suggested to me that using fleece or netting was better than buying a fruit cage which he said are a nuisance to keep tidy around the edges.  I'm currently trying fleece as last year all of gooseberries disappeared overnight, so far so good and not a berry lost - there's still time though :-)

[Steph Hen]

And just to chime in, geese LOVE gooseberries. Not useful at all I know 

[Lesley Silvester]

And just to chime in, geese LOVE gooseberries. Not useful at all I know 

But could come in useful in a pub quiz. 

[Ina]

Old net curtains are good on red currants, too. Mind you, my local blackbirds found a way in at ground level...