Now is the time of year when the fruit is ripening and the birds are as hungry as ever.  There are several options open to the gardener to try to protect ripening fruit from the predations of ravens, crows and jays.  Trees can be covered with netting but I've always found that some bird will find its way in.  If the fruit tree is large netting is out of the question.  My favorite deterrent  in a large tree are used CD's.  One takes a CD and ties about 18 inches of string to it and then tries the the whole thing to the tip of a branch on the tree.  For a large tree one needs at least a dozen CD's.  When the CDs rotate in the wind they catch the sunlight and their reflections dance about confusing and scarring the birds.  Even when the sun is not shining the CD with its large central "eye" seems to intimidate the birds.

Each year we try variations to the theme to try to come up with the best way to deter the birds.  Last year we recommended using flash tape to tie the CD onto the trees.  This year I tried both flash tape and regular cotton string to see which was the best.  The cotton string seemed to offer the best movement.

I do have a word of warning though.  If you have to use a ladder, take care.  The plum tree that I was using as a test tree is a favorite spot for moles.  And yes, you guessed it, one leg of the ladder I was up on plunged through a mole hole sending me to the ground and breaking my collar bone.  So be careful.  It's nice to have lots of homegrown fruit but not at the cost of a broken bone.