My husband had just edited my Bright Idea for August 11 and sent it to the Eagle when a flock of grackles descended on our front yard and began pecking. We knew it would be only minutes before they moved to our heavily fruited Harrelson apple tree.

The apples aren’t ready to pick until late September, but already show red on a side, especially apples on top, exposed to more sun. They’re also the largest, especially if only single apples cling to a branch. These birds were on apples everywhere on the tree. Our small Frostbite trees also had apples, not yet ripe, but heavy on thin branche...