Bull Finch Bastards

[HamletsSister]

They are eating all my apple blossoms and we have just realised this is why our first bumper crop, three years ago, has become no apples at all. They are also eyeing up the other trees.

DH has ordered some tape which is supposed to flap and scare them off.

Any other ideas?

We only have a crab apple and it's got tonnes of fruit even with the bullfinch coming every day to eat the buds. I think the only option is to buy more trees :)

I don't know whether this'll work with trees but when we sowed a new lawn my Dad (who knows this kind of stuff) said to tie black cotton across. The birds can't see it well but fly into it and get freaked out so stay away apparently! Might be worth a try.

Get some of those whirly windmills, hang CDs in the tree! But don't worry too much - as crazyoldbaglady says, a tree can lose a lot of blossom before the crop fails. The number of flowers greatly exceeds the number of apples the tree can possibly bear.

This person had success using plastic bags: www.permaculture.co.uk/readers-solutions/how-stop-birds-destroying-all-your-newly-emerging-fruit-crops

However, I worry a bit about this - wildlife can easily get trapped in them and they can do so much harm as litter if they accidentally blow away.