Last year I lost some tomatoes to birds, but they leave the leafier vegetables alone. At first I was concerned, but then so many tomatoes came in that the bird damage portion was negligible. Acceptable losses. This year I simply planted so much extra that I wouldn't care if I lost any to the birds. And you know what? They're not bothering any of the vegetables this year. At all. What's different is: 1) I'm growing berries this year. They attack those instead. (And those need netting). 2) My neighbors are feeding the birds. 3) It's been raining a lot, providing many more insects. I welcome the birds to the garden -- they've been helping keep the pest population down. So maybe the strategy is to give them something else to eat, and allow extra for any minor bird damage. I've got to say, bird netting might prevent them from getting to the bugs, and bugs are worse. It's also a real pain to get in and out of the netting (having to deal with it with blueberries.) And its sad when the first critter gets tangled in the net and dies. An alternative to a bird net for vegetables is a crop cover fabric. This only works for short vegetables, and if the bugs haven't laid eggs yet. It's easier to work with, and critters don't get tangled.

Actually, I got a better look at mother bird from across the yard. She seems to be a dull-colored robin. While she was away from the nest, I got up on a ladder to look and see what I was dealing with, and she has already hatched some baby birds. I have been regularly watering the nest out of ignorance until yesterday, and so far the babies seem to be breathing but not chirping. Also so far, I have not accidentally drowned them. I have a friend that has an extra shepherd's hook, and I may move the nest to under a tree next to my garden in a protected area, so that the birds can develop without all the comings and goings of my house. Also, if they fall out, they will land on soft dirt and not the hard cement of my porch. This just feels so unnatural and a little strange to me...

Great photos Lenfocenter. I have known people who have also had this happen in their hanging baskets. In the UK it's usually sparrows or wrens that do this. There are many of these red and purple fuchsias so quite difficult to say which one it is for certain, might be 'Son of Thumb' but I'm not 100% sure. Maybe someone in the Bird Forum can give you better advise re the nest, link below, Kath:) Here is a link that might be useful: http://nature.gardenweb.com/forums/bird/

I just stumbled upon this post as I try to prevent the recurring problems from Barn Swallows again this year. Unfortunately, the image is no longer available and I cannot see how you hung the netting. We have a colony of Barn Swallows that roost at our apartment building each year. The landlord hates them, but a former tenant had posted signs everywhere about how it was illegal to remove the nests. It was only through my own research that I realized it was only illegal while eggs or babies were in the nests, and those tenants moved out this winter. In addition to nesting on top of our buildings lights, covered walkways, and eaves, my apartment and the one next door have outdoor entrances from our gorgeous courtyard and patio which have covered stairwells. Each year, the swallows fly through these two stairwells like its the Lincoln Tunnel, dive bombing anyone who tries to walk on the stairs. They build their nests on the outlet boxes or porch lights. The first summer we lived here, I thought it was really neat to have such a close view of their lives, as I would often sit on my steps and could watch the babies as they grew, taking great care to be quiet and non-threatening. However, I also found that my porch steps and exterior wall were covered with bird droppings. They are also very very noisy when there is an entire colony of them outside of your windows. All of the "teenage" birds hang out in one of our courtyard trees outside of my window, which my cat loves but can actually drown out any conversation or television in our living room. Then I experienced what I thought were bed bugs in our house. I had tiny bites head to toe and could constantly feel them crawling on me despite rarely being able to see anything. It got so bad that I was getting the bites infected from itching all the time, and I couldn't sleep because I could feel the bugs crawling on my skin as soon as I tried to relax. I finally captured a few and took them to the University's Department of Entymology, who identified them as bird mites. That experience was HORRIFIC. I was ready to burn our entire building down after reading that the bird mites multiply much more quickly than bed bugs and are nearly impossible to remove. Luckily, the mites died off when the birds finally left for the season, but I can no longer sit outside on my wooden stairs because I fear contracting them again. The next spring, I tried the knock-down method, just on my own stairwell. I would open my screen door 2 inches and use a broom handle to knock down the nests up to 7 times a day. The swallows became very agitated, and and two attacked my daughter's head when she got home from school one of the days. I couldn't sit inside and repeat this process forever, though, and they got their nest up one day while I was off at a 12 hour work shift. The outlet covers they use are too high up to see into, and I knew that some other nests already had eggs, so I couldn't knock it down, more out of compassion than fear of charges. This will be our third summer here. Our elderly landlord has given up trying to prevent them from nesting even in the building entryways. I have removed my porch light cover so there is no solid surface to nest on, but the outlet box cover is too high up and I can't put a ladder on the stairs to reach it. I have considered trying to throw a cotton ball soaked with peppermint oil up there (it has worked in the past for mice and spider problems), or hanging a bunch of cut aluminum as a mobile at the top of the steps (I have heard that the reflections off the metal scare birds off), but I simply can't go through another year of this if those methods don't work. I saw that I could use something to create a 45% slope where the nest to prevent them, but again... getting up there is an issue. I am curious to see how you used the mesh. Could you please share the picture again?