damson in distress

My poor damson plum hasn't been doing so well since the end of blossom time.  The bumper crop that seemed to be developing here, unfortunately didn't come about when the last of the blossom just didn't set fruit in late September and withered away...

 I think it may have been because we had a very dry august here in Melbourne...something was not right at that time because the pluot tree (plum cross apricot) had blossom at that time and it didn't set fruit at all.

Now that the plums that are there are just beginning to ripen, the lorikeets have moved in!

They've been having a good peck...and this is the result!  Even the plums on lower down branches are being pecked...in previous years they ate all those at the top which I couldn't reach anyhow, and there were so many plums that there were enough for everyone.  I don't mind really...I do love watching them waddling about and hearing their gentle cooing then their raucous squabbles...and it's nice to see them enjoying a feed.

At least Gemma is getting to eat some too...she nosies around the bushes (a bit of dog gleaning) and finds those that have fallen from too much pecking but still palatable...at least for her!

So there will be no plum preserving party this year...it's amazing thinking back to the absolute fecundity of this tree considering how it is going this year.  It's probably quite anthropocentric of me to say that it is the plum tree in distress when it probably is actually me.  I do think I took the plum bearing powers of damson for granted at least a teensy bit.  I thought it would be there every year, providing me with the means to make lots of christmas jam pressies.  Maybe damson isn't in distress at all...maybe she needed a break this year!