A pick-your-own cherries event at a National Trust property in Cornwall has been cancelled after blackbirds ate all the fruit!
Due to be held on 28 June 2023 a pick-your-own cherries event was set to span over five days at Cotehele, a medieval house and grounds in Calstock.
However, Laura Jarman from the National Trust said 80 trees had been cleared of cherries as they had been “feasted on by very cheeky blackbirds”. She said the cherry orchards had been blossoming since 2004, but in the last few years there has been a larger amount of cherries.
Ms Jarman said: “We’ve been very excitedly planning the pick-your-own event. On Monday we were checking the cherries were ripening but Wednesday morning the gardener came to tell me they’d all gone! Eighty trees’ worth have been feasted on by the very cheeky blackbirds.” She added: “They’re so cute. we don’t mind too much.” They are still planning to hold an apple picking event later in the year.
Haha this made me laugh. I suspect next year the gardeners will put up some sort of bird-proof netting to prevent the birds taking the fruit but for now, a win for nature lol.