Nature Notes - December 2014
Pick a pretty berry
Holly berries are very much in evidence this time of year whether making a dazzling display in a local hedgerow or an equally dazzling display on millions of Christmas cards. It is very important that they are so obvious as they, and many other berry crops, play an important role in winter bird survival. In return the seed contained within the berry gets dispersed further afield to help the tree or bush reproduce and spread.
Berries play a significant role in nourishing birds throughout the autumn and winter. It starts early in September where the fruits of the elderberry and blackberry are eaten by many warblers such as whitethroat and blackcap prior to their migration to Africa. Indeed these bushes give a double helping of goodness for the small birds as the berries also attract many insects on which they also feed.
cc-by-sa/2.0 photo © Jürgen Howaldt - geograph.org.uk/p/2051711
Rowan Berries
Soon after these berries, rowans dangle their clumps of red berries particularly on the upland areas such as Dartmoor to be followed by the ripening of holly and hawthorn in the wild and cultivated pyracantha and cotoneaster in gardens. The ripening of these berries is timed for the arrival of a mass invasion of fieldfare, redwing, blackbird, song thrush, mistle thrush and starling from Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Russia which come here to winter.
Nutritious as all these berries are, what is not obvious is that, given a choice, the birds are selective over what they eat first. In past years above Shipley Bridge and up towards Avon dam, I have noticed that the fieldfares and redwings will gorge themselves on the rowans when they
arrive in late October and, once they are all gone, move on leaving the hawthorns for a second wave of birds that arrives later in the winter. Unfortunately for the overseas visitors, the local blackbirds also have a fondness for rowan and in some years, the crop has been devoured before they arrive, as was the case this autumn. If that happens, the new arrivals move straight on to the hawthorns and re-fuel with these before continuing with their journey.
I have also witnessed a preference for red berries over yellow and orange varieties of pyracantha. These ornamental garden plants play an important role later in winter when food becomes scarce in the countryside, particularly in cold spells. At these times, the normally quite shy redwings and fieldfares can be found in gardens alongside blackbirds competing for food. Of interest is that a blackbird was once observed to eat in excess of 300 pyracantha berries in one day! One other berry that deserves a mention is mistletoe, much loved by its big cold plumaged namesake, the mistle thrush.
What to look out for in DECEMBER & JANUARY
Look for teasel heads alongside roadside verges being visited by small flocks or “charms” of goldfinch feeding on the seeds. If frosts have been few and light there will still be fungi to see, such as the soft brown Jelly ear found growing on rotting elders. A trip to the East Devon heathlands such as Aylesbeare Common should find plenty of meadow pipits and a chance of a resident Dartford warbler.
By the Dart December 2014