You'll know the expression about biting the hand that feeds you. Yesterday, shock horror, I discovered a Wood Pigeon eating the tiny, unripe cherries on my Prunus avium Stella tree. Much as I like birds, I love my garden. I could happily have wrung its neck and fed it to my cat. For a long time I have been allowing these pigeons (some other irate gardener described them as 'big, fat, greedy, b**tards'. I think that's a pretty apt description) to eat the seeds I put out for the smaller birds, totally in ignorance that Wood Pigeons can be a serious and destructive pest. While I appreciate that birds will go for sweet red fruit—and who can blame them?—I had no idea that Wood Pigeons will not only eat embryo cherries, no bigger than little peas, but they will also strip leaves off trees and thus put the whole tree at risk of dying. This is war. This morning I covered the tree with netting, supported by tall canes. I can see the tree from my kitchen window and will keep a close eye on it to make sure no birds get trapped and harmed; no birds except perhaps that big, fat, greedy...
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| Embryo cherries on Prunus avium Stella Gisela 5 |
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| Wood Pigeon damage on Prunus avium Stella Gisela 5 (sweet cherry tree) |
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| Netting on Prunus avium Stella Gisela 5 cherry tree |
