Blueberry Birding At Park Hill

Background Information

The blueberries look great this year.  You may or may not be aware that the biggest potential loss in blueberry is bird damage.  Birds see those little blue balls as a tasty snack, which they are.  Packs of predatory birds can easily eat 90% or the blueberries.  It is really a food chain dispute and we humans would like to claim the crop for ourselves.  Its a race to get the berries and, folks, we humans have what it takes to win!

Growers use all sorts of tricks and contraptions to scare away the birds.  Air cannons, bird distress call speakers, plastic owls, shiny ribbons - but nothing really works -  except full netting which is, frankly, quite cumbersome and awkward. 

The Solution

While contemplating this problem, in previous years, we noticed that almost all of the bird damage happened in an hour period not long before sunset when large predatory packs would swoop in.  Still contemplating, we began to drive around in a golf cart for an hour each day, shooing the birds away.  To our surprise, bird strikes on the blueberries became rare and we were able to get a very nice harvest.

Another thing happened.  A friend was here who is an avid bird watcher.  He had great fun chasing the predator birds in the cart. There are also many other birds to see such as orchard orioles which flit about in the canopy.  The next thing we knew there were several helpers who had fun "birding".  Watching birds is great sport, but actually interacting with them on a real level takes birding to a whole new level.

You Too Can Be A Birder!

This year we are opening up the birding sessions to other interested folks.  The shifts run from 5:45 pm until about 7:30 - And you may take home a plump and perfect pint of the freshest blueberries.

If you would like to reserve a birding shift, please use the following link to our volunteer scheduling program.