Are the birds hungrier than usual this year? They've stripped my trees before the fruit is even thinking about getting ripe. They ate all the cherries before they even colored.

Last night, I noticed that they had damaged several rock hard nectarines, so I decided to pick way too early, hoping that some would ripen up enough to be used.

Too late. This morning, every nectarine on the tree is ruined. About a third of the peaches are damaged, so I picked 4 flats of peaches. I guess I ca make pie filling out of them. I suspect that by tomorrow, all the remaining peaches will all be damaged.

In years past, the birds waited until the fruit was nearly ripe. I could get it picked as soon as they started to peck at it, and it would be ripe enough to become edible after sitting on the kitchen counter for a couple of days.

Seriously, these peaches and nectarines are still sour and hard as lumps of concrete. The birds are even damaging my hard green apples that won't be ripe for a couple of months. I've never had the birds show any interest in the apples before.

I put footies on some of the peaches and nectarines, so I'll see if that discourages the birds. The way they are pecking into green apples, I don't have high hopes for the footies.