Bloody Parrots

Most people who show roses will be getting ready for the Autumn Championships and that is including me......

Everything is on track and it is looking good for us......

BUT!!!!!!!.......blow me down....I go out this morning and low and behold, there are about thirty plus twenty eight parrots stripping all the new buds.
It wasn't that they were having a feed, but were breaking the stems about six inches below the bud and casually moving on to the next one.....I have nothing now and there goes my chance of winning the Autumn State Championship for the third year in a round........

I am so disappointed and down hearted that these little buggers were so malicious and could not bother to have a feed........all that work and money gone with a flap of wings.........[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Bad luck Neptune, might be a one-off happening which won't be repeated again. I notice when the Eucalypts are not blooming the
Rainbow Lorrikeets start to arrive on plants like Salvias which they just remove the nectar. However they do nip off Eualyptus just a few inches below the flower heads. Must be something in the stems that they are looking for.

Bah. Parrots are just destructive little beggars. Grrrrrrr.
The cockies "prune" our lemon scented gums here by nipping off all the branch tips. They don't eat anything.
I've had a few crimson rosellas hang around for rosehips and I *move them along* because I figure a situation like John's would be the next step. (I don't put food out for them either)
(I do think the other contestants went a bit far in hiring that Parrot Hit Squad.... )

May you romp it home in Spring/Summer, John! We know you're a winner.

John, I know you have lost the winning blooms for the Autumn show, but have you considered dangling anything shiny and moving around your roses, this applies to yours as well Wendy.
In the vineyard we use a tape(irrtape) and tie it to the canes. It is reflective silver with coloured dots on it. Other vineyards and orchards use old CD's as mobiles it appears to work very well over cherry trees.

when I saw this effect on the roses last year , I had no idea what had happen, as I had never seen any parrots here before....

I think it was either Gary/Warren/Wendy last year who mentioned about the parrots having their crazy habit on their roses....

The funny thing is that, they will probably not come back till this time next year........

Oh no , so sorry to hear that Neptune , what a disaster , why would they do that , i have to wonder ....

Maree, I often wonder why they nip off the blooms on Eucalyptus when the blossoms at the end would supply nectar for a couple of weeks longer if left on the tree. Could be something to do with the high flow of sap to the blossoms that they like. Maybe to clean their beaks of nectar and plant particles? Possibly to wear down a section of their beaks that has grown too long, and so the list goes on.

I have a 20X power scope to observe them nipping off the branches, though no time to do the bird watching.

That is just rotten, rotten news, neptune! I am so very sorry.

Must be heartbreaking watching all your hard work disappear like that Neptune. There's always next spring I suppose but that's cold comfort now. They say Gardeners are optimists, I suppose that's true, no other option really. I'm sorry for you though.

The one option I have is to force grow them using outside influences. Tried it last year and it seems to work.......

I'm not sure what you mean by "outside influences". Is this growing them in a shed/igloo with artificial light?

large patio gas heaters.....

Ahh, I see. Good place for a cappuccino too. Lol

looks bloody stupid when you have three large patio heaters out in the front garden and sometimes under tarps........a lot of people think I have lost it.......

Yes I could see how that might look.

Seems perfectly normal to me lol !!!

I bet Anna hides from the neighbours when this starts John
In all honesty I hope you pull it off and take the championship.

John, best of luck, I'll follow your progress with great interest.

The worse part of all this, is that I have to be out the front while the heaters are there. Otherwise someone will walk past and lay claim to it. I'm already over cutting the grass with scissors while looking after them, and there are no leaves or weeds in the garden....I've high pressured the pavers, washed and polished the cars and its not even spring.....
Might just sit on the porch with a bottle of red and write a book titled "How To Kill Time While Watching Gas Burn"........[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Sounds like you need an electric fence, John!

For the parrots or the neighbours?

Very sorry about the parrots, I hope all your effort with the gas burners yields results. Btw thanks for the giggle, cutting the grass with scissors did it for me.

silkyfizz wrote:For the parrots or the neighbours?

Well.... both, I presume...

AutumnDamask wrote:

silkyfizz wrote:For the parrots or the neighbours?

Well.... both, I presume...

I should do for the neighbours......my ocd neighbor cuts anything off that goes past the midline of the fence. Its a bit hard when he cuts off the buds that are leaning his way on a fence that is a meter high....... I'm seriously thinking of moving, but that means he wins........

Sounds like bloody parrots and bloody neighbours Neptune , doesn't he appreciate your roses , his bad luck i'd say . I think we all have our gripes about neighbours , no matter what sort of neighbourhood you live in , i certainly do as well ....